Police accuse 13-year-old of driving stolen car drunk
The state trooper was observing traffic from a parking lot in Quincy when he spotted an apparently drunk driver in a Ford sedan careering across the Neponset River Bridge.
After stopping briefly, the car sped off, leading the trooper in a high-speed chase that ended in Boston early yesterday, when the Ford smashed into a utility pole near Neponset Circle, knocking the pole 20 feet, police said. The driver ran, but the trooper caught him, wrestled him to the ground, and arrested him.
Only then did the trooper realize he had been chasing a 13-year-old boy in a stolen car.
Yesterday, the youth, 13, was arraigned in Dorchester District Court on a series of charges that included resisting arrest, receiving stolen property, driving while under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of an accident.
"It's rare to see an intoxicated driver this young, thankfully," said David Procopio, spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police.
The youth was not identified yesterday because he is a minor. The Ford had been leased to an employee of H.J. Heinz, the ketchup company, which is based in Pittsburgh. The employee, whom police did not identify, did not know the car had been stolen until police told him, Procopio said.
The car was stolen from a parking spot in Charlestown, Procopio said. The youth told police that "a buddy" had loaned him the car and asked him to drive it home to Quincy, said Jake Wark, spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley. Police said the youth told officers he did not know the car was stolen, Wark said.
About 1:05 a.m. on Monday, the youth was driving from Dorchester into Quincy with the headlights off, Procopio said.
The trooper saw the car swerve twice into a curb and then drift onto Hancock Street.
The trooper pulled the car over. As the trooper walked to the Ford, he noticed the driver looking back nervously, Procopio said. Suddenly, the driver took off and made a U-turn back toward Boston, speeding down Quincy Shore Drive at 70 miles per hour, he said.
The car crashed near Morrissey Boulevard, and the youth scrambled out the passenger side and ran toward Neponset Avenue and behind several houses. He was apprehended and sent to Caritas Carney Hospital in Dorchester with scrapes on his face.
Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.
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