Tilton Man Arrested on Disorderly, False Report Charges

A Tilton man is facing charges after a strange report of a man flashing a gun, a road rage incident, a drug deal, and then an afternoon traffic stop on South Main Street.

Mark A. Corente, 38, of Tilton, was arrested at 3:15 p.m. on July 23, and charged with disorderly conduct and penalty for false information to 911.

Officers were called to the Sanel Auto Parts on Manchester Street for a road rage incident, according to a report. While on a break, a man alleged that another man was heading north on Manchester Street, speeding down the road with a passenger that was flashing a gun, heading towards I-93.

Employees at the store, however, denied making the call and denied that any of them were on break at the time of the call.

A dispatcher attempted to call the number back but it was out of service. The dispatcher tried another number, a home number, but that went straight to voice mail.

Meanwhile, on Water Street, the vehicle in question, a Ford Contour, was located and later stopped at the intersection of Storrs and Main streets. Other officers converged on the scene as well, with two men being held on the side of the street.

One of those men, Corente, was the owner and operator of the vehicle and he allegedly had the license of the vehicle that was reported to 911 written on the palm of his hand. Corente, however, allegedly denied knowledge of a phone call, saying he hadn’t owned a cellphone in months, and said he didn’t have a gun in the vehicle.

Corente reportedly consented to a search of his vehicle and officers allegedly found a zippered pouch in the trunk containing metal and plastic spoons, four syringes, and two packages of Suboxone.

Later, Corente allegedly told officers he did have a cellphone but it was at home in Tilton because it didn't have any minutes left on it. Corente, according to the report, had difficulty giving the officer the correct number.

An officer checked one of the numbers Corente allegedly gave up and a young boy answered. Corente allegedly said he didn’t know why the young boy would have his phone.

A detective then showed up at the scene and reported that he was “familiar” with Corente and interactions he allegedly had with the Franklin Police. A Franklin detective was called and a detective there handed off a phone number for Corente that they had on file from a few months ago. Dispatch was unable to pinpoint the exact location of the call from the cellphone but later reported that the call had come from a tower in Pembroke that services Concord and other areas.

The officer went back to Corente for a third time and he allegedly asked to step away from the passenger of the vehicle to discuss the incident. Corente allegedly told the officer that a friend of his “was heavy into selling drugs” and that he had sold some pills to a man he knows and he called the police station hoping that the man could be stopped with the pills.

Corente was taken into custody and was “very cooperative” during questioning. The other man was released from the scene.

Corente was later charged and released on $2,000 personal recognizance bail and is due in court on Aug. 26.