13-time drunken driver taken home rather than arrested
By JOHN P. KELLY The Patriot Ledger PEMBROKE - Police Chief Gregory Wright last night declared two officers faultless in their decision not to arrest a 13-time drunken driving offender who witnesses said was inebriated while driving his van into a supermarket parking lot last month. The officers drove him home instead.
In a three-page memo to selectmen, Wright said the joint decision of officer Gregory Burns and another officer to drive 56-year-old Robert Scheller to his home stemmed from their belief they couldn’t prove the Marshfield man had been behind the wheel of a vehicle, and thus fell within the bounds of departmental procedure. Sgt. Richard Wall was the second officer, Wright acknowledged last night.
The internal investigation was spurred by a Patriot Ledger article which detailed how the officers freed Scheller without charges on Sept. 3, nine days before Marshfield police pulled over and charged the chronic drunken driver with his 14th offense, stripping him of his license for life.
In an address to selectmen last night, Wright outlined his findings of what happened on the Sunday evening when police received two 911 calls reporting a van swerving on Route 128 and cutting off drivers on its way into the parking lot of a Stop & Shop.
According to Wright’s account, Burns arrived to find Scheller walking in the parking lot, clearly drunk. The officer spoke briefly with Philip Tortorella, a retired law enforcement officer from Duxbury who said Scheller nearly crashed into his car.
Suzanne Havens, one of the 911 callers, stood quietly nearby.
Tortorella told Officer Burns that Scheller appeared too intoxicated to drive but did not mention at the time that he had witnessed Scheller driving, Chief Wright said he was told by Burns. Burns, who made no note of Tortorella’s name, turned his attention to ‘‘preventing (Scheller) from entering his vehicle and leaving the scene,’’ the police chief said in his report.
It took 10 minutes for Burns to ‘‘gain control of the man,’’ Wright said. Afterward, Burns did not see Tortorella in the parking lot, assumed the only witness had left, and decided to drive Scheller home for his own protection.
Tortorella, it was later determined, had been seated nearby in his car.
Havens, the other witness at the scene, said she never approached the officer, assuming he let Scheller into the rear of his police cruiser to transport him to the police station for booking.
Both Pembroke officers were unaware of Scheller’s criminal past, a 24-year rap sheet which includes drunken driving convictions in five states, one of which followed a car crash in Marshfield in 1983 that sent a 22-year-old woman to the hospital with brain trauma and other serious injuries.
Because Scheller was driving with a valid license, the officers would have had to run a computerized background check through the Board of Probation to learn of his past convictions. Not running the background check was ‘‘perfectly within his discretion,’’ Wright said, referring to Burns.
Exactly what role Wall, the sergeant, played is unclear. Wright said he arrived after Burns and they made a joint decision to drive Scheller home, a form of so-called protective custody.
Opting against jailing him temporarily or transporting him to a detoxification center, both accepted forms of protective custody, was in keeping with a longstanding policy that looks to avoid the chance an incapacitated person will commit suicide while in lockup, the report notes.
The investigation, conducted at least in part by Lt. Michael Ohrenberger, took into account interviews with witnesses and the two officers, tape recordings of 911 calls and radio communication. Only the three-page summary was made available to the public.
Though the police chief’s report finds no wrongdoing on the part of the officers, Wright concludes by writing that ‘‘officers need to be diligent in their efforts when investigating O.U.I. cases’’ to counter the severe threat repeat drunken drivers pose.
‘‘Officers must be aggressive and seek out witnesses or other evidence, when available, to assist in making a strong prosecution case,’’ Wright wrote.
Selectmen Chairman Hilary Wilson said that, judging by Wright’s findings, he saw no flaw in the officers’ handling of the incident.
‘‘All he could do, from what I’m reading in the report, was determine that the man was intoxicated,’’ Wilson said.
Scheller is in the county jail for 90 days awaiting a pretrial hearing. District Attorney Timothy Cruz could decide to charge Scheller in the Pembroke case, Wright said.
Your Views
What should police do when they are told about - but do not witness - someone driving drunk? Should they be allowed to make an arrest?
Write: Your Views, The Patriot Ledger, 400 Crown Colony Drive, Quincy, MA 02169 Fax: 617-786-7393 Call: 781-340-3156 E-mail: editpage@ledger.com Please include your address and telephone number.
Copyright 2006 The Patriot Ledger Transmitted Tuesday, October 03, 2006
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