Police Log

RECKLESS DRIVING

Police Capt. Matthew G. LeDuc reports traveling westbound on Hartford Avenue, near the intersection with Reservoir Avenue, at approximately 4:35 p.m. on July 11 when a silver 1999 Mercedes Benz “approached my unmarked police vehicle on the right in the low speed lane and cut into my parallel lane of travel with only approximately one foot of clearance space.”

The vehicle, he reports, then proceeded to cut back into the low speed lane – “cutting off another vehicle with about the same clearance” – before speeding away.

LeDuc activated his lights and siren and pursued the vehicle, attempting to pull it over. The operator, he reports, “ignored my lights and siren and gestured wildly with his right hand,” and the captain “could not discern his intention.” The pursuit continued at speeds of 50 mph and greater, the captain reports, which exceeded the posted 35 mph limit.

LeDuc reports both he and the operator of the Mercedes eventually stopped at the light where Route 6 and the bypass split.

“While stopped there I exited my vehicle and gave verbal commands to shut the vehicle off and to exit,” LeDuc reports. “He stuck his [head] from the window and yelled something about his dog.”

The pursuit then continued, and dispatch notified Scituate police LeDuc was entering their jurisdiction on Route 6 west.

“We proceeded at moderate speeds from then on, however he did pass through the light at the junction of Rte. 116 when the light was red,” the captain reports.

A marked unit from Scituate joined the pursuit, LeDuc reports, and after a turn onto Rockland Road, “it became clear that [the operator’s] intention was to return to his residence.” Upon arrival at the home, the captain ordered the operator to exit the vehicle and place his hands on the car, and he complied.

According to LeDuc, the man said “his dog had been struck by a car and that he wanted to see him.” The Scituate sergeant at the scene indicated his department had received no report of a dog strike that day. LeDuc does in his report note that an “unidentified neighbor” said the dog had in fact been hit, but that remained unconfirmed.

Pierry S. Vargas, 41, of 356 Rockland Road in North Scituate, was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving and eluding an officer with a motor vehicle, and issued citations for speeding 11 mph in excess of the speed limit, failure to obey traffic control signals, and clearance for overtaking. He was released with a July 22 district court date.

“I explained to Mr. Vargas that his actions put many in danger on the roadway and that had he simply stopped initially he would have been given a verbal warning,” LeDuc writes in his report.

DUI CHARGE

Patrolman Derrick Palazzo reports responding to the Burger King at 1375 Atwood Ave. at approximately 6:50 p.m. on July 5 for a report of an accident in the parking lot, with no injuries.

Upon arriving at the scene, Palazzo spoke to the calling party, who said he had been in the drive-thru line when his vehicle was rear-ended by a white 2005 Cadillac four-door sedan. The calling party said both he and the other operator had exited their vehicles and found no damage, but he “found it odd” that the other man was “missing a sandal and also had slurred speech.” Despite the calling party’s protests that a friend should be called to give him a ride, the other operator reportedly “simply continued to apologize and then entered his vehicle and drove away.”

Palazzo reports during the conversation with the calling party, he heard the sound of a motor revving, followed by the sight of the white Cadillac moving at a high rate of speed through the parking lot. The patrolman reports the calling party pointed to the vehicle and stated “there he goes!”

Palazzo yelled at the Cadillac to stop, and began a pursuit in his cruiser. He caught up to the vehicle in the adjacent Luigi’s parking lot, but it continued onto Hartford Avenue, crossing all four lanes of traffic and parking in the parking lot of Knights Liquor at 1380 Hartford Ave.

Palazzo said he approached the operator and asked why he did not stop, to which the man reportedly responded “in a slurred speech, ‘I respect you officer.’” The patrolman said he observed the man’s eyes to be “extremely bloodshot,” his face flushed and red, and his speech “extremely slurred.”

Palazzo reports he asked the man for his license, insurance information and registration, and despite the license being “in plain view” in a money clip, the man said he could not locate it.

Palazzo then asked the man to submit to a series of field sobriety tests, which he reportedly refused.

Michael G. Morrison, 28, of 38 Argonne St. in Johnston, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol (first offense, BAC unknown) and refusal to submit to a chemical test. He was transported to Johnston police headquarters, where he reportedly refused to submit to a chemical test. He was later ordered held on $1,000 surety bail pending an arraignment in Third District Court.

Due to the lack of damage from the Burger King drive-thru accident, the calling party did not wish to file a formal accident report.