Retired Hudson police Sgt. Donna Briggs is at far left in this photo of Hudson officers who participated in a benefit bicycle ride in May 2019. (Hudson Police Department photo)

By DEAN SHALHOUP

Senior Staff Writer

HUDSON — That Donna Briggs became the Hudson Police Department’s first female sergeant didn’t surprise anyone who knew her one bit.

Briggs not only worked in every aspect of the job at one time or another during her 20-year career, she brought to each assignment the high degree of professionalism and respect for which she was known, those who knew her said.

“She was very well respected by the faculty, the school district … the kids loved her,” Hudson police Chief Bill Avery said, his voice breaking at times as he struggled to come to terms with the profound loss.

State police released this photo of the suspect vehicle in the hit-and-run crash that killed retired Hudson police Sgt. Donna Briggs as she rode her bicycle on Route 125 in Kingston. (State police photo)

He referred to Briggs’s assignment as a school resource officer at Hudson Memorial School, and her natural fit as the department’s DARE officer.

Briggs’s tragic death at the hands of a hit-and-run driver sparked an intense, around-the-clock search for the blue SUV and its operator, which soon led to the arrest around 9 a.m. Friday of a Dover man who told police he kept nodding off while driving, and at one point, he said, he allegedly hit something but didn’t know what it was.

Police Friday afternoon identified him as Craig W. Sprowl, 45, who had been staying at a Day’s Inn at 481 Central Ave. in Dover.

Briggs died around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, the result of injuries sustained when Sprowl’s 2005 GMC Yukon SUV struck her as she rode her bicycle south along Route 125 in the area of New Boston Road.

The impact forced Briggs and the bicycle off the shoulder and down an embankment, police said. But it wasn’t until several hours later that someone called police to report Briggs missing.

State police released this photo of the suspect vehicle in the hit-and-run crash that killed retired Hudson police Sgt. Donna Briggs as she rode her bicycle on Route 125 in Kingston. (State police photo)

Officers then began looking for her, and around 8:30 p.m. they located her down the embankment.

Emergency medical personnel were called, but Briggs was pronounced dead at the scene.

Briggs, 59, lived in Derry. She leaves her husband and two adult children.

Police, by piecing together security camera videos from businesses along the road and speaking with witnesses, narrowed their search over the course of their investigation until they gathered enough evidence to arrest Sprowl.

Investigators worked around the clock developing leads, police reports indicate. Officers from multiple jurisdictions in southeastern New Hampshire were on the lookout for a vehicle matching the description.

Retired Hudson police Sgt. Donna Briggs, in uniform shortly before her 2013 retirement. (Hudson police photo)

The state police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction (CAR) Unit was called in to handle the investigation, police said.

Meanwhile, Avery, the Hudson chief, said he and Briggs “go back a long way,” adding that they were hired on the same day.

Briggs worked patrol, then joined the detective bureau, Avery said. She later worked in legal, where she earned the respect of defense attorneys representing clients that Briggs was prosecuting.

Briggs was by no means idle in retirement; she opened a massage therapy practice in Bedford, and spent many hours on her bicycles, whether on leisurely rides, participating in group outings or training for her next Police Unity Tour.

In a tragic coincidence, Briggs was on a training ride for the upcoming Police Unity Tour ride to Washington, D.C., in which she was riding in memory of East Kingston police officer Melvin Keddy, who was killed by a drunk driver in 1995 — less than a mile down Route 125 from the spot where Briggs was struck.

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

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