Mass. police supervisor on leave after driving retired officer facing OUI charge home, police say
At around 12:41 a.m. on Saturday, two Acton police officers went to a liquor store parking lot on Main Street, the department said in a statement. The officers saw a 2024 Toyota Highlander with a severely flat passenger-side front tire running in the parking lot, with two people inside.
The officers, who requested that a supervisor meet with them at the parking lot, approached and the driver stepped out of the SUV, police said. The officers noticed the driver, a 64-year-old retired police officer from another community, had the smell of alcohol on his breath and saw an open can of Twisted Tea sitting in the SUV's cup holder.
When the supervisor arrived, he took the driver home in Acton, police said. Another officer took the Acton man's passenger, a 55-year-old Acton woman, also to her home.
Acton police officials, including Chief James Cogan and Lt. Ed Lawton, decided to file two charges against the Acton man: operating under the influence and possession of an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle, police said. He was expected to appear in Concord District Court. No criminal complaint was issued.
The supervisor was then placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation to look into how the supervisor handled the incident, police said.
Cogan said in the statement that the law applies to 'current and former members of law enforcement agencies.'
'Our public rightly demands that we enforce the law evenly, and we will conduct a full and thorough review of the handling of the situation that unfolded early Saturday morning,' Cogan said.
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