Area transient who avoided prison on 50+ charges, back in jail on no bail

Stephanie Lee MacDonald (Rochester Police photo)W

ROCHESTER - A former Somersworth transient who avoided a prison sentence in 2021 by agreeing to inpatient treatment through the Strafford County drug court only to be arrested three days later when she was charged with theft and assault was arrested again by Rochester Police on Sunday.
Stephanie Lee MacDonald, 42, now listed as a New Hampshire transient, was arrested after Rochester Police responded to the Hi-Vu Motor Inn on Rochester Hill Road for a report of a wanted person.
When officers arrived and located MacDonald, an officer attempted to take her into custody, but she suddenly put her hand into her pocket and removed two orange pills of an unknown substance.
"The Officer ordered her not to take the pills out, and she was told to hand them to the officer," Rochester Police Capt. Todd Pinkham said on Wednesday. "MacDonald then attempted to throw the pills into her mouth and swallow them, however the officer was able to prevent that from happening."
MacDonald was taken into custody after a scuffle and transported to the Strafford County Jail where she refused bail pending a later arraignment in Strafford Superior Court. Jail personnel today said she remains at the jail on a no bail order.
A longtime area transient with no fixed address, she pleaded guilty to some 50 charges including drug possession, theft and assault on July 30, 2021, and was placed in a ride service car that was to take her to an inpatient treatment facility, Strafford County Attorney Tom Velardi said at the time.
"She left in a car headed for a treatment facility, but just got out of the car and left," Velardi said.
According to a Hooksett police press release, at 3:02 p.m. on Aug. 2, 2021, Police Officers "were dispatched to 30 Market Drive, the Market Basket parking lot, for a report of a fight involving a male and female."
It was learned from store employees that MacDonald had stolen a bottle of wine and was leaving the store parking lot.
"When one of Market Basket's employees confronted MacDonald, she raised the bottle of wine and struck the employee," Sgt. Mike Zappala of the Hooksett Police Department said. "A struggle ensued between the employee and MacDonald until other officers arrived on scene."
MacDonald admitted to what occurred and was arrested for robbery, he said.
MacDonald was also charged with willful concealment, obstructing government administration, simple assault and criminal threatening.
MacDonald was later terminated from drug court.
The 50 charges MacDonald pleaded guilty to in 2021 went as far back as July 2015 when she was living on Franklin Street in Somersworth and arrested three times in two months for trafficking drugs including heroin and crack.
The 50 charges adjudicated in July 2021 comprised criminal activities including drug possession and trafficking, thefts and assaults over a six-year period.