Published: 11/06/2007
After wild ride, co-worker tips off police in DUI case By Julie Manganis Staff writer
MARBLEHEAD - After a Sunday evening of beers and shots with a co-worker, Joshua Appel insisted he was OK to drive, according to documents in Lynn District Court.
His co-worker was concerned, the documents allege, but got into the Comcast van and let Appel take the wheel anyway.
Now, Appel, 37, who lists an address of Hillsboro, N.H. - but who police believe actually lives in his work van - is being held without bail, charged with third-offense drunken driving, reckless driving and failing to stay within marked lanes after allegedly taking that co-worker on a wild ride from Beverly to Salem to Marblehead.
That's where he was finally stopped after his passenger, Larry Davis of Salem, called police - after Appel had passed out behind the wheel for the third time.
Appel pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment yesterday. Judge Richard Mori ordered Appel held until a hearing tomorrow to determine whether he poses a danger to the public if released.
Court documents detail the events of the night:
Davis told police that the two had been at the Sports Connection in Beverly, where they shared two pitchers of beer and four or five shots. As they left, Davis was concerned, asking Appel if he was "OK" to drive. The two then headed to O'Neill's in Salem, where they each had a couple more beers.
Davis admitted that Appel "seemed really drunk," and he tried to stop him from driving but eventually relented. Davis accepted Appel's offer of a ride home. Soon, however, he realized they were heading to Marblehead - and that Appel was extremely drunk, stopping and starting for no apparent reason and swerving all over the road. He also appeared to black out, Davis told police.
He was also belligerent. As Davis protested, asking Appel to pull over, telling him he has kids and a job he had to be at the following day, Appel repeatedly called him a name.
Then Appel began heading down Pleasant Street, on the wrong side of the road. He stopped and ordered Davis out of the van. Then he passed out.
That's when Davis called the police. When Marblehead police found the pair just after 9 p.m., it took several attempts to wake Appel.
Police arrested the "belligerent" Appel, then looked in the Comcast van, which had an "overwhelming stench" of body odor, smoke and alcohol - and appeared to be Appel's home.
Inside were clothes, toothbrushes, a coffeemaker and toaster, as well as an 18-pack of beer, a 1.75-liter bottle of rum and some empties.
Appel, who has two prior drunken-driving convictions on his record, refused to perform field sobriety tests or take a Breathalyzer, police said in their report.
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