Braintree police charge two drivers with OUI on New Year's Day

By Jessica Bartlett, Town corespondent

Police arrested two people in separate drunk driving incidents on New Year's Day.

According to police, the first arrest occurred at midnight on Union Street, where police saw a car driving without its headlights on.

Police stopped the car on the ramp to Route 3 and asked the driver for her license. She told police that she didn’t have one, and officers later learned that the suspect had a learner’s permit.

Suspecting that the driver was intoxicated, police asked her to perform several sobriety tests. At the conclusion of the tests, Fiona Gjiata, 17, of Braintree was arrested and charged with operating under the influence of alcohol, unlicensed operation, and failure to display headlights.

At the police station, Gjiata also failed a breath test, police said.

Three hours later, a 27-year-old Holbrook man was arrested after he, too, was driving without headlights, police said.

According to police, an officer spotted the suspect driving on Washington Street near Peach Street and had to stop suddenly as the suspect’s vehicle swerved towards him before correcting itself.

The officer stopped the suspect a short distance away and made observations of possible intoxication.

The suspect performed several sobriety tests and was then arrested.

Sean P. O’Brien was charged with operating under the influence of alcohol (second offense), failure to keep within marked lanes, failure to display headlights, and operating with no registration in possession.