Failing to Stop at a Blinking Red Light and Plowing into a Boston Police Cruiser Results in One Under Arrest for Being Under the Influence

At about 3:10am, on Sunday, September 30, 2012, officers from District B-2 (Roxbury) responded to a call for a motor vehicle accident in the area of Humboldt Ave & Townsend Street involving a marked Boston Police Department cruiser and a civilian motor vehicle. On arrival, officers observed an accident scene involving a Boston Police cruiser and a gray motor vehicle. Officers noted that the cruiser had damage to its passenger side while the civilian vehicle had damage to its front end. While the operator of the gray vehicle refused medical attention, the officer, suffering from non-life threatening injuries, was transported to the Brigham & Women’s Hospital for treatment.

When asked about the accident, the operator of the gray vehicle admitted to having driven through a blinking red light. During further discussions with the civilian operator, officers noted the operator’s speech to be slurred and eyes blood shot and red. Given that the operator appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance, officers asked the suspect to consent to a field sobriety test. During the test, the operator performed in a way consistent with and comparable to a person under the influence of a controlled substance.

Officers arrested an 18 year-old male from Boston and charged him with Operating Under the Influence (Controlled Substance).