Alleged drunken driver crashes into Waltham police station
Police did not have to go far to arrest a man on drunken driving charges for the fourth time. Angel Hernandez had crashed his
Just before midnight, the truck smashed through the station's rear door, sending glass and debris into a hallway adjacent to the room where police had gathered at the start of their shift. None of the officers were injured.
"If someone had been walking through there, if it [roll call] had ended a few minutes earlier, it could have ended tragically," said Detective Sergeant Tim King.
Hernandez was taken to Lahey Clinic in Burlington with injuries that police said were not life-threatening. The 45-year-old Waltham resident works for the city Water Department.
His employment status could not be determined yesterday. He will be summoned to Waltham District Court and charged with operating without a license, operating to endanger, and operating under the influence, of which he has been convicted three times, authorities said.
Hernandez has a hardship license, which allowed him to drive between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., said Ann Dufresne, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. He was given the license after he appealed several times to get his driving privileges reinstated following his third drunken driving arrest, in Littleton in 2003, Dufresne said. A fourth operating-under-the-influence conviction could result in a 10-year license suspension, Dufresne said.
According to his driving record, Hernandez was also charged with drunken driving in 1986 in Boston and in 1990 in Waltham. His record also shows numerous other infractions, including speeding, driving to endanger, and refusing to obey police.
