Police: Driver drunk when she hit detail cop in Framingham June 12, 2012
Michael Morton 508-626-4338 Metrowest Daily News

FRAMINGHAM -- A 34-year-old woman arraigned in court yesterday was driving drunk with her children in the car when she clipped a detail officer and ran over his toes, police say.

The incident took place Sunday night at a construction zone on Concord Street, just south of Frederick Street. Detective Matthew Gutwill, the officer working the detail, was taken to the hospital, police say, but his condition was not available yesterday.

The driver, Maria Barriga of 107 Pine St. in Nashua, N.H., was charged with drunken driving, child endangerment while drunken driving, leaving the scene of injury and failing to stop for an officer, police said.

Barriga was driving a Ford Expedition around 11 p.m. with her two sons, ages 7 and 12, when she approached a lighted construction site, court documents show. She swerved around a work truck but clipped Gutwill with the SUV's right front panel and passenger mirror and then ran over three of his toes, the documents show.

Gutwill, who was wearing a reflective safety vest, ran into the street and yelled for Barriga to stop, but she kept going - until another officer who was driving by pulled her over several hundred yards up the road.

Barriga initially told the officer she hadn't hit anything and hadn't heard or seen Gutwill. She said she had been at a friend's house and drank two Coronas. She later acknowledged, though, hearing Gutwill and looking back to see him running, the court documents show. A roadside test revealed a blood-alcohol level of .13 and she was arrested, the documents show.

Barriga was released after her arraignment in Framingham District Court on the condition that she not commit any crimes and refrain from using alcohol and drugs, with random screenings ordered.

Her case is scheduled to resume at the court Aug. 22, though she has a previously scheduled trip back to Brazil and won't have to appear. Staff from the state's Department of Children and Families have contacted their counterparts in New Hampshire, a prosecutor said in court. Norman Miller contributed to this report.

Police log entry: 06_10_12.htm

1203988  23:00   ARREST: BARRIGA, MARIA 107 PINE ST NASHUA, NH DOB:02/01/78   
                 Arrested@ 100 CONCORD ST for M/V-OUI-ALCOHOL                 
                 M/V-LEAVE/SCENE/ACCID/RMKS M/V-REF STOP PO/GIVE LIC/REG      
                 M/V-OUI-SEE REMARKS Officer: BUMA, TERSONI, HAIDOUSIS, FUER
1203988  23:00   ACC HIT/RUN: 100 CONCORD ST (SEE REPORT) 954: BUMA 

Commentary:

Was the officer asked if he was texting/talking on his cellphone at the time his toes were run over?

Was the officer's sobriety checked?

Of course not!

Will she return from Brazil?

Of course not!

When a car strikes an officer, the driver is always drunk.
When a police cruiser strikes a pedestrian, the pedestrian is always drunk.

Funny how that works.

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