Man arrested at New Hampshire Olive Garden after hostage claim

Police arrested Daniel Ouellet, 47, outside an Olive Garden in Newington, New Hampshire, after a woman told officers he had held her hostage, forced her to marry him and injured her during what she described as a satanic ritual. The arrest on June 6 came after a late-morning welfare check drew Newington police to the restaurant, where the scene quickly shifted from a routine dining room to a domestic violence investigation.

Authorities said the woman’s mother tracked her cellphone to the Olive Garden and alerted Pennsylvania State Police, who requested the welfare check. Officers arrived shortly before 11:30 a.m. and saw the woman run out of the restaurant crying. Police said she had cigarette burns on her legs. Ouellet told police he was simply out to dinner with his wife and said her mother was trying to force her into a religious cult in Pennsylvania.

The woman later gave a far different account. She told police Ouellet threatened to hurt her and her family if she did not come to New Hampshire. She said he pointed a .45-caliber handgun at her and forced her to marry him at a town hall in Lee, New Hampshire, on June 1. She also said he kept her phone while they stayed at a trailer in a campground in Lee, limiting her ability to contact anyone or leave.

According to police, the coercion continued as Ouellet allegedly forced her to drive while he held a loaded gun and told her cults were following them. The woman said he cut her hand with a box cutter on June 6 in Kittery, Maine, during what she described as a satanic ritual. Officers later said they found a copy of The Satanic Bible in Ouellet’s car, along with items that belonged to the woman, including a sweatshirt and a bag.

The case spread beyond the restaurant. Police in nearby Lee issued a shelter-in-place order after learning Ouellet had weapons and had been staying at a campground there. Ouellet was charged with obstructing someone from reporting a crime or injury by threatening them with a deadly weapon and was held on preventive detention at the Rockingham County Department of Corrections. Police also filed an emergency restraining order, and the woman sought a protective order to keep him away from her.

Court documents said Ouellet’s ties were primarily with Maine and that he had no permanent address. Prosecutors also referenced prior criminal history involving domestic violence and driving under the influence, while Ouellet told the court he believed the accusations were erroneous and denied being violent. More charges could follow as investigators continue to sort out the movements, threats and allegations that turned a public restaurant into the center of a hostage case.