GOP Lt. Gov. candidate Shawn Oliver was allegedly so drunk he vomited in front of an arresting officer while earlier stopping for a green light, details of his arrest report reveal.
Oliver, who also serves as a New Bedford City Councilor and state corrections officer, was arrested late Saturday night on OUI charges after allegedly causing a multi-car crash in the city. He was arraigned Monday morning in New Bedford District Court, where he pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Police reports filed by responding officers state that Oliver had admitted to officers that he was drinking that night, even vomiting in front of one officer while emanating an odor of alcohol while in the hospital after the crash.
Witnesses also told police they saw Oliver stop at a green light before accelerating his vehicle after realizing it was green and then crashing his car, the report obtained by the Herald states.
“Upon my arrival to the above stated address, I activated my BWC (body-worn camera) and observed a black Lincoln Navigator flipped over on its roof in the south bound lane of Dartmouth St. which is a public way owned and maintained by the city of New Bedford. The operator was identified as Shawn Oliver (DOB- 12/8/1983) by officers on scene and was the sole occupant of the Navigator,” New Bedford Police Officer Orlando Franco wrote in his police report.
“Shawn was sitting on a chair that a civilian had brought out for him and speaking to Ofc. Parker. Shawn was observed to have a laceration on the right side of his head and was bleeding. I observed a gray Toyota Camry with extensive damage, pushed over the curb, across the sidewalk, and onto the grass. A red Toyota Camry also had extensive damage and was pushed back causing it to collide into another parked vehicle. In total 5 parked vehicles were involved,” the arresting officer states in the report.
Officer Franco says Oliver was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital to address his head injury, seen held together by surgical staples in New Bedford District Court Monday morning.
Franco also detailed witness statements in his report, including one person who saw Oliver apparently stop his vehicle slightly past a green traffic signal at a busy intersection before reversing to see if the light was green, which it was, and then accelerating through the intersection and striking a curb.
“The witness stated that the Navigator then accelerated through the intersection northbound, and began to drift to its right, nearly striking the curb opposite New York Bagel (located at 571 Dartmouth St.) The Navigator then abruptly veered to the left, to avoid striking the curb, and continued northbound,” Franco summarized the witness account.
That’s when, the witness says, Oliver’s vehicle drifted left and crossed into the southbound lane, where it struck several parked cars and flipped over.
“It should be noted that the Navigator was traveling at such a high rate of speed that upon impact, it caused 1 vehicle to be dislodged from the roadway and multiple vehicles to be pushed into each other,” said Franco.
At the hospital, Franco stated in his report that Oliver admitted to consuming at least two alcoholic beverages earlier that night at Black Bass Grill before heading to a friend’s house in Dartmouth. Franco noted Oliver’s eyes to be bloodshot and glassy, adding that Oliver had vomited prior to being placed under arrest while “emanating a moderate odor of alcoholic beverages.”
“After speaking with Shawn, it was determined that he was under the influence of alcoholic beverages therefore should not have been operating a motor vehicle. At this point he was advised that he was being placed under arrest and was handcuffed to the hospital bed,” added Franco.
Officer Andrew Parker noted in his report that at the scene of the crash, Oliver had stated, “OK, it’s been a long day,” when asked how he was feeling.
Parker says he had asked Oliver where he had been coming from, to which he answered that he had been with friends, but was initially reluctant to tell him where he had been driving from.
“I followed up by asking, ‘You don’t know where you were coming from?’ Mr. OLIVER replied, ‘I know where I was coming from. I was coming from a meeting with friends in Dartmouth.’” Parker wrote, adding Oliver said he was “burning both ends of the wick.”
Oliver has suspended his campaign at the request of his running mate and GOP candidate for governor, Mike Minogue, but will remain on the ballot in the general election. Minogue says, if elected, he will ask Oliver for his resignation. If that happens, Massachusetts will be without a lieutenant governor for Minogue’s four-year term.
Oliver is due back in court on Nov. 16 for a pretrial hearing.
Original article
Comments