NATICK – A Natick man is facing his third drunken driving charge after police said he crashed his car into a traffic light and then apparently got lost while trying to walk home.
Police arrested Kyle Kenneth Minaker, 35, after the crash at the intersection of Speen and Hartford streets, police spokeswoman Lt. Cara Rossi said on Friday.
A witness called police to report the crash. He said a Volkswagen sedan was turning from Speen Street onto Hartford Street when the car drove onto the traffic island and hit the light pole, knocking it down.
“The officers went to the scene and found the car, without the operator, on Hartford Street,” Rossi said.
Before police had a chance to search for Minaker, he called the police station and said he was involved in a crash and he was trying to walk home.
“It appears he got a little lost while walking,” said Rossi. “He was standing in front of the Brown (Elementary) school (1 Jean Burke Drive). He said he was just trying to get home.”
When police found Minaker, they had him perform field sobriety tests, which he failed. At the police station, Minaker took a Breathalyzer test, blowing a .11, which is higher than the legal limit of .08.
Police charged Minaker, of 25 Wethersfield Road, with operating a vehicle under the influence of liquor (third offense) and cited him for a marked lanes violation.
Minaker’s previous OUI charges were in 2001, when he received a continued without a finding for OUI, and in 2009 when he was found guilty of OUI in Waltham District Court. A continued without a finding counts the same as a conviction when it comes to drunk driving offenses.
At Minaker’s Natick District Court arraignment on Friday, he was released on $200 bail. He is due back in court March 8 for a pretrial conference.
Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date crime news, follow him on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.