By DAVID SCHOETZ STAFF WRITER www.capecodonline.com The calls from concerned motorists started coming in to three state police offices the evening of Dec. 15: A marked cruiser from the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office was driving erratically between Quincy and Kingston heading south on Route 3.
The state police dispatched a cruiser to the highway and contacted the Barnstable County Communications Center, authorities said. County dispatchers tried to radio the driver, Lt. Brendan Murphy - a K-9 officer and 11-year veteran of the sheriff's office - to get him to pull over.
Murphy kept driving.
He exited Route 3 in Kingston and drove on Route 3A to Route 106 before a Kingston police officer finally stopped him.
It is unclear how police pulled Murphy over, but the state and local police said there was no pursuit of the cruiser Murphy was driving.
''We didn't know what the problem was,'' said Kingston Sgt. Zachary Potrykos, who was on duty that Thursday evening when one of his officers responded to a state police radio call for assistance.
Murphy's erratic driving and failure to stop when asked to do so were the result of a low blood sugar level, Barnstable County Sheriff James Cummings said yesterday.
''The signs are consistent with someone who is operating under the influence,'' Cummings said. ''This was certainly a medical situation.''
Murphy, a Mashpee resident, was returning to Cape Cod from a K-9 training exercise in Quincy, Cummings said, when low blood sugar began to impair his ability to drive.
According to the Web site eMedicalHealth.com, a motorist suffering from hypoglycemia - a dangerously low blood sugar level - can show virtually the same symptoms as someone driving drunk.
A state trooper soon joined the Kingston officer and Murphy at the scene. An ambulance was called and, according to Cummings, Murphy was treated with an injection of glucose. The lieutenant refused to be taken to the hospital. He was later picked up by a Barnstable County Sheriff's Office employee and driven home.
Murphy was not available for comment yesterday, but Cummings said the lieutenant was having blood work done and that his doctor attributed the incident to the officer being overworked.
''This is a guy who burns the candle at both ends,'' Cummings said of his employee.
''He needs to slow down.''
Except for a single speeding ticket issued in Barnstable in the 1980s, Murphy's driving record is clean, Registry of Motor Vehicles records show.
The officer has no history of discipline within the sheriff's office, Cummings said.
''Murphy isn't even a guy who I worry about stuff like that with,'' he said.
Would this still be newsworthy if the guy worked for Putnam? I didn't think so.
Posted by: mpd61
What's good to note is that nobody was hurt, and nobody over-reacted and acted on assumptions!
Posted by: Macop
Ya, theres a first.
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