Nine-time drunk driver arrested again on OUI charge

August 6, 2008 11:50 AM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Anne Baker, Globe Correspondent

A Yarmouth man who has been convicted of drunken driving nine times was arrested early this morning as he was allegedly driving the wrong way on an exit off Route 28.

Yarmouth Police Department

Police allege that William P. Rose had been drinking. Again.

Not including this morning, Rose had been arrested 14 times on drunken driving charges, said Lieutenant Steven G. Xiarhos of the Yarmouth Police Department. Rose has been convicted in nine of those cases, Xiarhos said.

This morning Rose, 59, was behind the wheel of a 1994 Toyota Camry at 1:30 a.m. when, police allege, he drove the wrong direction into the exit lane at the intersection at Old Main Street. The Camry was drifting in and out of the marked lane, police allege, and the vehicle struck the curb in front of the South Yarmouth Library.

Rose was pulled over and police said he had bloodshot eyes, unclear speech, and a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. Police said Rose failed a series of sobriety tests, including a preliminary breath test. He was arrested and charged with operating under the influence. Rose was subsequently charged with driving without a license, operating a motor vehicle to endanger, failure to stay within the marked lanes, and driving with defective equipment for a missing brake light. He is scheduled to be arraigned today in Barnstable District Court.

Despite his previous drunken driving convictions, Rose had been issued a hardship license that permitted him to drive from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for employment purposes, Xiarhos said. However, Rose told police he was not employed.

Though operating under the influence is typically a misdemeanor, Rose will face felony charges because he has been convicted for drunk driving more than three times, Xiarhos said. Yarmouth Police do not have Rose’s previous conviction record and could not say whether his previous charges have been felonies.

Rose’s vehicle has been impounded, and could be sold if Rose is convicted under Melanie’s Law, which targets repeat drunken drivers, Xiarhos said. The law allows police to confiscate and sell the motor vehicles of drivers with more than three drunken driving convictions.