NASHUA – Assistant County Attorney Brett Harpster on Wednesday asked a Superior Court judge for preventive detention for Nashua resident Heidi Perry, who was arrested Tuesday on several drug charges.

Harpster said he made the request not because he wanted Perry to go to jail, but because of his concerns that Perry’s well-being could be jeopardized if she is simply released from custody without any plan in place.

According to police reports to which Harpster referred at Wednesday’s bail hearing, Perry, 38, of 30 Cypress Lane, allegedly made references to suicide after she was taken into custody around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in Hudson.

Asked by Judge William Delker about Perry’s alleged comments, Nashua attorney Justin Shepherd, who represented Perry at the hearing, told Delker, after consulting with Perry, that nothing he observed concerned him regarding suicide.

Harpster, meanwhile, told Delker he would support a personal recognizance bail order “if there’s a good game plan in place for her,” a reference to immediate treatment such as reporting to a Safe Stations location and being evaluated by a Greater Nashua Mental Health counselor.

“I just want to make sure she’s safe. I’m not comfortable just releasing her right now,” Harpster said.

Shepherd raised no objections, agreeing that Perry’s substance use disorder “needs to be addressed … she needs to focus on getting better and being with her daughter,” a 7-year-old first-grader, Shepherd said.

Delker thus granted personal recognizance bail, with conditions that include reporting to a Safe Station, getting the assessment and following recommendations for treatment.

Perry, who has virtually no criminal record, was driving on Burnham Road in Hudson when officers on patrol pulled over her Ford Fiesta after checking her license status and finding it was suspended.

While speaking with the officers, Perry allegedly made what police refer to as “furtive movements,” meaning they observed, or suspected, a person of trying to move or hide objects from view.

But when the officers allegedly “observed suspected illegal drugs” in Perry’s vehicle, they placed her under arrest without incident, police reported.

They transported her to police headquarters, where they booked her on two Class A felony counts of possession of a controlled drug – suspected heroin, and one count each of illegal possession of prescription drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving with a suspended license.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256, or at dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.