Man sought in Georgetown is located in Boston; charged with fourth drunk driving offense

By Sarah N. Mattero, Globe Correspondent

A 56-year-old Georgetown man is facing charges of operating under the influence, fourth offense, after he was arrested in downtown Boston early Saturday.

Richard Ford was being sought for allegedly violating a restraining order in his Merrimack Valley town when he was found at Friend Street and Valenti Way in Boston around 1 a.m. Saturday, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office said.

State troopers observed Ford to be asleep in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, keys in the ignition, as well as blood on his face and bloody napkins in his lap. When troopers unlocked the driver’s side door, Ford awoke and swung at them with his hands and feet, then tried to hold tightly to the steering wheel while troopers attempted to remove him from the vehicle, prosecutors said. Even when he was placed on the ground, he struggled with troopers until he was handcuffed.

Troopers noted there was a strong scent of alcohol emitting from Ford but he was speaking clearly. Ford refused to take a breath test, prosecutors said.

State Police had been looking for Ford because he was a suspect in a Georgetown house break-in. He allegedly broke a restraining order after calling a resident at that location.

Ford pleaded not guilty in Boston Municpal Court Monday to charges of a fourth offense of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, larceny of a motor vehicle, malicious destruction of property, operating with a suspended license, and resisting arrest, Conley’s office said.

Ford’s bail was set at $8,000, but he was transported first to Haverhill District Court to answer other charges there, said district attorney’s spokesman Jake Wark.

He is slated to return to Boston Municipal Court on Nov. 29, Wark said.