CONCORD MONITOR - A 55-year-old Concord woman arrested three times in six days this month on driving while intoxicated charges was ordered held on $50,000 cash bail at her arraignment yesterday in Concord District Court.Patricia Mondro was arrested for driving while intoxicated and breach of bail, both misdemeanors, in Concord on Friday, one day after being arrested for aggravated DWI, a felony, also in Concord. Both arrests followed traffic accidents on Interstate 93, according to the police.
Mondro was also arrested for DWI on Jan. 16 in a parking garage at Manchester Boston Regional Airport. She'll be arraigned on that charge Feb. 9 in Derry District Court.
Mondro appeared for her arraignment yesterday morning by video from Merrimack County jail, with public defender Emma Sisti at her side. She said little other than to claim that her husband had left her recently. She wore a neck brace, presumably from injuries suffered during the second of her three DUI charges.
"Given the . . . history of the three DWIs in a very short period of time, I am concerned for the safety to the public, and I do believe you are an extreme danger to yourself and others," Judge Gerard Boyle said before announcing bail conditions.
Boyle then set bail at $30,000 cash-only for the felony DWI charge, and $20,000 cash-only for the misdemeanor of violating the bail conditions set for that crime. Boyle also set bail at $10,000 personal recognizance for Mondro's third DWI charge. State prosecutor Jean Reed had sought $50,000 cash-only bail for the felony DWI charge and $20,000 for breach of bail.
Mondro, a respiratory therapist at St. Joseph's Hospital in Nashua, was first arrested at 8 p.m. Jan. 16 when the police were called to a garage at the Manchester airport. "Some concerned people felt she seemed very disoriented, so the police were called," said Lt. Tim Jones of the Londonderry Police Department.
Five days later, Mondro was charged with aggravated DWI after hitting a guardrail on Interstate 93, between Exits 13 and 14, at 3:25 p.m., the police said. She suffered serious bodily injury, according to the police report.
Mondro was released on bail before being charged the following day with another DWI and breach of bail in connection with drinking alcohol to excess after hitting a pickup truck on I-93 between Exits 12 and 13 on the southbound side. The police said Mondro was driving with her headlights off about 5:16 p.m. when she hit a pickup truck from behind, sending it forward into another vehicle. No one was hurt.
Mondro still had her driver's license after the first two DWI charges because neither case had moved through the court system by the time she was charged a third time.
"The problem is all these license issues kick in after conviction, so she's in this interim state," Jones said. "Now all these things will stack up and can certainly have serious consequences later."
Boyle said yesterday that a financial affidavit submitted by Mondro showed she would not be eligible for legal aid from the court.
Mondro, however, was permitted court-issued attorneys for her arraignment, including Sisti at the Boscawen jail and Sarah Davidson in the courtroom. Davidson said Mondro had not properly filled out the financial affidavit and that she should receive court-appointed legal help.
Davidson told Boyle that Mondro had to make a $27,000 payment for her daughter's college education and that Davidson is working with Mondro's sister to help Mondro receive the treatment she needs.
Sisti added that Mondro has been a stable citizen, educated at Northern Essex Community College.
"She's 55 years old, she's been living in New Hampshire for the past 25 years, and she has no criminal record whatsoever," Sisti said. "She acknowledged she has an alcohol problem. She's going through a very difficult time in her life right now."
Mondro's bail conditions will change after she has entered a rehabilitation program, Boyle said. He said he'd reconsider the bail at a probable cause hearing for the felony charge Feb. 3 and at another court appearance.
"If the court can be convinced that you will be in an in-patient rehabilitation program, that you will not be driving, and you will not be a danger to yourself and the community, the court is going to restructure your bail so that you can participate in that in-patient rehabilitation program," Boyle said.
Boyle also entered not-guilty pleas on Mondro's behalf for the two misdemeanor charges and set a trial date for March 29.
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