WEBSTER – A 53-year-old man is accused of a fourth drunken-driving offense after his van rolled over on New Year's Eve.
Mark W. Chausse, of 106 Douglas Road, the Webster Family Campground, is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 8 in Dudley District Court on charges of driving under the influence of liquor, fourth offense, negligent driving, and a marked lanes violation.
A police report said the van landed 15 to 20 feet in the woods near LKQ on Douglas Road just after 4 p.m. Dec. 31. When officers arrived Mr. Chausse was in an ambulance, was “noncompliant” and appeared intoxicated, the report said.
Mr. Chausse told police he lost control of the van after hitting a patch of ice. When asked, he told police he had consumed “a little bit” of alcohol.
Officer Bruce Hamm, a crash reconstructionist with the Central Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, examined skid marks from where the van came to rest. Although the edge of the road was wet, there was no ice, the police report said. The middle portion of the road was dry.
Mr. Chausse’s previous convictions were in the 1980s and 90s, police said.