When Nichole Brizer saw Francis Houghton in his wheelchair outside Rite Aid on Tuesday morning, she promised herself she would buy him some gloves and handwarmers on her way home from work.
Brizer, of Northfield, N.H., said she often saw the 70-year-old veteran shopping in Tilton, N.H., in his motorized chair. She worried about him getting cold.
“He always seemed to be outside having to go shopping,” she said. “It made me worried that maybe he didn’t have anyone to take him places.”
Later that day, Brizer got an email notification about a collision on East Main Street. She later found out Houghton had been hit by a tractor-trailer while he was crossing the street.
Houghton, of Tilton, was crossing the road at about 2:30 p.m. when he was struck by an 18-wheeler, witnesses said. He immediately was transported to Franklin Regional Hospital, where he later died, according to police.
“It was such a sad accident,” Brizer said.
The driver of the tractor-trailer, Michael McKallagat, of Haverhill, Mass., said he was not aware that he had hit someone. Police tracked him down at the Franklin town line based on witness descriptions of his vehicle.
McKallagat is cooperating with the investigation, and there are no pending charges, police said. The tractor-trailer is owned by AMA Transportation of Billerica, Mass.
Kelli Hall, of Bristol, N.H., said she saw Houghton on the sidewalk almost every day when she was dropping her son off at school.
Hall said she heard there was a pedestrian in a wheelchair that was hit before she drove through the area on Tuesday, and she feared the worst.
“I had this awful feeling it was him before I saw the scene,” she said.
Len Stuart, program coordinator at the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton, said Houghton did not attend programming or live at the veterans home.
He said veterans who live at the home have easy access to transportation for activities and appointments.
He said for those who don’t have access, it’s often a struggle.
“There’s really no significant public transit in this area,” he said. “If you don’t have that resource available, it can be a big issue.”
East Main Street was shut down to all pedestrian and vehicle traffic for about 3½ hours from Lowes Drive to the west end of Morrison Avenue on Tuesday, police said.
The Belknap County Traffic Accident Reconstruction Team and State Police Troop G was requested at the scene to assist in the investigation.
The Tilton Police Department asks that anyone who witnessed the incident contact them at 603-286-4442.