EPPING — Joyce Coffey likes to rock on.

“I love music. I don't know what else to tell ya,” said the rock music fan whose collection of Guns 'n' Roses, AC/DC, and Nickelback music landed her in handcuffs four times in 26 hours.

Coffey, 53, has been cruising on the “Highway to Hell” ever since her four arrests in late August that all started with complaints from neighbors who didn't like the loud music blasting from her Mast Road residence.

Coffey didn't think she was committing a crime by playing loud music at her house to relieve her stress over unpaid property taxes, she said, so each time she was arrested, bailed, and warned by police to keep the radio off, she cranked the tunes back up.

But after a rough ride, Coffey hopes the arrests and the publicity that followed are finally in the rearview mirror after she pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of disorderly conduct, both of which were reduced from misdemeanors to violations.

A judge placed a third disorderly conduct charge and a simple assault charge on file without a finding for a year. The simple assault charge was lodged after her nephew told police that she whacked him with a frying pan during an argument, but she denied the assault.

Coffey was fined $2,000, but she didn't have to pay a dime because she spent 30 days in the Hillsborough County Jail.

After her fourth arrest, a judge set bail at $10,000 personal recognizance and ordered her to join an inpatient mental health evaluation program. But when she refused to attend the program, her bail reverted to cash and she remained in jail until she was bailed out a month later.

A former Epping police officer, Coffey said the last month and a half has been a nightmare. She's not only been behind bars but also became the butt of jokes from people who found humor in the accusations against her and her facial expressions in the four booking photos.

Coffey tried to take the publicity in stride.

“I cracked up at the last photo. I thought it was very humorous, but I didn't blame anybody for what they said. They're going on the facts, but it doesn't mean the facts are true. I'm not a drug addict. I'm not a drunk,” she said.

Police have said alcohol may have played a role in Coffey's refusal to keep the music down, but she insists that her urge to turn up the volume wasn't fueled by booze.

Coffey said she had “four or five” beers during the day while she was outside working in the yard, but she wasn't drunk.

“I was home and I wasn't going anywhere,” said Coffey, whose first arrest came around 4 p.m., Aug. 28 and her fourth arrest was at 6 p.m., Aug. 29.

“I felt justified. Everybody had their air conditioners running, so their windows were closed. You have Star Speedway within a half a mile. You have New England Dragway at the top of the hill,” she said, adding that the SigSauer firing range is also located nearby.

Coffey has lived in Kentucky for the last eight years, returning to New Hampshire only briefly once a year for a visit.

Coffey said her nephew has been staying at her Epping home for the past few years during the summer months while she's been in Kentucky. She returned to Epping in mid-August and planned to head back in September.

Upon her return, Coffey said she became stressed out over unpaid property taxes.

“I was stressed and I started playing music, which I always do,” she said.

Police officer Matt Blonigen heard it loud and clear from his cruiser when he pulled into the driveway to arrest her for the third time just after 1 a.m., Aug. 29.

“When I walked up to the screen door at the side of Joyce's house I saw that the stereo was placed near the doorway and the speakers were pointed out the door,” Blonigen wrote in his affidavit.

Blonigen said he heard AC/DC's 1979 hit song “Highway to Hell” booming from her radio, but Coffey said her favorite band is Nickelback.

Coffey admitted that she had the volume turned up high, but she said it was a small portable radio.

“There ain't too much volume out of them,” she said. “I didn't believe I was disturbing anyone. Where I come from in Kentucky, I could have a band running 24/7 and nobody would call the cops,” she said.

In court Friday, Coffey told Judge David LeFrancois that she planned to leave for Kentucky on Sunday and has no plans to return to New Hampshire.

“No one will hear from me again,” she said.

jschreiber@newstote.com