Westboro police chief was "hammered drunk," sleeping in unmarked cruiser outside liquor store, police say

The Westboro, Massachusetts, police chief remains on administrative leave after a police report alleges that he was "hammered drunk" and found asleep in an unmarked police cruiser outside a Shrewsbury liquor store for more than 24 hours.

A Shrewsbury Police Department report obtained Tuesday by WBZ-TV reveals more details about the incident that led to Westboro Police Chief Todd Minardi being placed on leave over the weekend.

The Westboro Police Department said in a statement that it was aware of an incident in Shrewsbury involving Minardi and had placed him on leave. Police in Westboro did not provide any additional details about the incident.

Westboro police chief allegations

According to a Shrewsbury police report, the call around noon on Friday came from a person at Star Liquors on Route 9.

A Shrewsbury police lieutenant wrote in his report that as he arrived in the parking lot, one of the responding officers approached him and said "… it's the Chief of Police for Westborough and he was hammered drunk."

Minardi was not in uniform and was in his unmarked SUV. The keys to the Ford Explorer were wedged between the cup holder and center console.

Police also said there were two bottles of vodka on the passenger seat of the SUV. One was empty while the second did not have a cap on and appeared to be mostly empty, police said.

According to the report, Minardi's eyes were red, bloodshot and glassy. In addition, police said his speech was slow, slurred and smelled of alcohol.

While Minardi was about to be transported to UMass Memorial Hospital, his wife called and told the paramedic that Minardi had been missing for two days. She said he had not been eating food and was only drinking vodka. 

After reviewing surveillance footage, police determined that Minardi first arrived at the liquor store around 9 a.m. on Thursday and did not leave until Friday when he was taken to the hospital around 12:30 p.m.

Police watched the surveillance footage and determined that after initially arriving in the parking lot, Minardi did not drive the unmarked cruiser. The Shrewsbury Police Department issued Minardi a citation for open container of alcohol. 

Chief Todd Minardi on leave

After learning of the situation, Westboro officials said they began taking steps to retain an outside investigator to gather more information while Minardi is on leave. The deputy police chief is currently leading the department's day-to-day operations.

The Town of Westboro said it will not be commenting any further because it is a personnel matter.

Minardi has served as Westboro police chief since 2023. He was sworn into the position in June of that year.

Westboro is located in Worcester County in Massachusetts, about 30 miles west of Boston. Shrewsbury is about seven miles east of Westboro.