DEERFIELD — A Holyoke man faces his seventh drunken driving charge after being tased for aggressive behavior Saturday night and arrested on North Main Street in South Deerfield.
Deerfield Police were responding to reports of a potentially intoxicated person harassing staff at the Whately Diner on Routes 5 and 10, speeding out of the parking lot and driving away erratically around 10 p.m. Saturday when they were alerted to a crash on North Main Street in which one vehicle fled the scene, according to court records.
Police located the car — identified as the same vehicle reported to be driving “all over the road” earlier — at Greg’s Auto Body. They made contact with the driver, Crispin E. Mathieu, 48, of Fairfield Ave. in Holyoke, who led Whately and Deerfield Police on a brief foot chase before he attempted to attack them when confronted. Mathieu, who police later found to be armed with three knives, was subdued with a Taser.
Police noticed Mathieu showed signs of intoxication and found beers and a cooler in his car. He also was wanted on two warrants — one for leaving the scene of a crash with injuries in Holyoke and another for operating after his license was suspended.
Mathieu was charged with his fifth operating while under the influence of an intoxicating substance offense, which police said is as many as the law allows. He has multiple prior convictions exceeding five OUIs in Massachusetts and one from out of state, police said.
He was also charged with operating after revocation of license (subsequent offense), operating after revocation of license as a habitual traffic offender, leaving the scene of a property-damage accident, resisting arrest, failure to submit to a police officer and operating after revocation for a past OUI.
Mathieu was arraigned Monday and ordered held at the Franklin County House of Correction.