Worcester State Rep. David LeBoeuf Arrested On OUI Charge; Empty Nip Bottles And Wine Cans Found In SUV
QUINCY (CBS) -- Worcester State Rep. David LeBoeuf was arrested and charged with operating under the influence of liquor Tuesday night. According to police, he was driving on three tires and troopers found empty containers of alcohol in his SUV.
Sources told WBZ-TV LeBoeuf was in the State House voting on Tuesday. His last recorded vote was just before 9 p.m. Massachusetts State Police said they received multiple 911 calls before 10:30 p.m. reporting an erratic black SUV on Route 93 South in Milton.
Michael Gonzalez was heading home from Tuesday night's Bruins game when he noticed something was wrong. "I heard this scraping sound, and it was very loud, and I noticed the car kept on kind of going left and right in the middle lane," Gonzalez said. "All of a sudden he veered all the way to the right lane and then swerved all the way to the left. And when he did it a couple of more times almost missing three vehicles, then I called police."
Troopers found the SUV, which "appeared to be disabled and smoking" near the Adams MBTA station on the Burgin Parkway in Quincy.
Gonzalez says drivers were dodging the SUV. "All of a sudden it kept on swerving between lanes, it couldn't stay straight and then it accelerated, and it was kind of crazy because all four lanes of traffic were all waiting for this car to kind of pick a lane," Gonzalez said.
Police said troopers helped the 32-year-old out of the SUV, and noted "a strong odor of alcohol on his person and emanating from the vehicle." Troopers tried to give the Democrat representing parts of Worcester and Leicester a field sobriety test, but they said he was "unable to follow instructions regarding performance of the tests and, as he was extremely unsteady on his feet," according to State Police.
"During an inventory of the motor vehicle, Troopers found nine empty nip bottles in the rear of the vehicle and two cans of wine in the front cupholders, one empty and the other half full," police said in a statement. "The vehicle's right front tire was missing and the rim had sustained damage from grinding on the pavement."
Police said LeBoeuf agreed to a chemical breath test at the barracks in South Boston and his samples registered a blood alcohol content of 0.329 and 0.317. He was released from custody after pleading not guilty to charges of OUI-Liquor, Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle and Marked Lanes Violation.
"I don't know that much about the case, but I certainly think as a general rule, driving while intoxicated, drugged or drunk or otherwise is irresponsible, dangerous and not something anybody should do," Gov. Charlie Baker said when asked about the arrest at a news conference Wednesday.
