DANVERS, MA : Danvers officer facing OUI charge after off-duty crash on Monday, 9th December, 2019

A Danvers police officer who had just called in sick for his shift was arrested on a drunken driving charge following a collision Monday evening.

Patrolman Adam French, 46, of Danvers, was driving his 2012 Audi SUV on High Street when a second vehicle, a 2018 Ford F150 pickup, driven by Charles Dunton, 55, pulled out of a driveway at No. 37, police said. French was unable to stop on the snow and ice-covered roadway, he told police.

Dunton told officers that he suspected French of being drunk as the two exchanged information; Dunton then noticed French’s badge when he opened his wallet, he said.

Police officers responding to the crash said they also believed French was intoxicated, due to his unsteadiness and glassy eyes, as well as an odor of alcohol on his breath, according to Sgt. Peter Shabowich’s report. French told the officers he’d had “one or two” drinks and that he was also tired from having worked many hours over the prior several days.

Due to the weather that evening, police were unable to complete field sobriety tests. French later refused a Breathalyzer test.

Shabowich said he had spoken to French by phone a short time before the 5:35 p.m. crash, when the officer called in sick, and said his speech sounded the same as it did at the crash scene.

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