GREENFIELD — A Northampton man who police say drove while intoxicated is facing charges following a pickup truck rollover in Whately that split a utility pole and downed live wires, causing two small brush fires.
Pedro Joaquin Leyton Palacios, 38, pleaded not guilty in Greenfield District Court on Monday to single counts of OUI-liquor over .08%, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, driving at a rate of speed exceeding the posted limit and a marked lanes violation.
According to a police narrative filed in court by Massachusetts State Trooper Andre Campbell, the trooper was working an area patrol at 3:05 a.m. on Sunday when he and Trooper Timothy Martin were dispatched to 80 Webber Road in Whately for a report of a rollover crash. Campbell reports he and Martin arrived and saw a utility pole split in half, blocking the roadway, as well as live wires in the road and two small brush fires in the wood line. Firefighters closed the road to ensure everyone’s safety, Campbell wrote. The troopers reportedly saw a white pickup truck on its roof and items strewn across the area. The roadway was also reportedly covered in a thick white smoke but it was unclear where the truck’s occupants were at this time.
Campbell reports he located a gray pickup truck, with five occupants, farther down the road. The driver — who answered Campbell’s questions through an EMS worker who speaks Spanish — said the white truck’s driver was his brother and they were all heading to a river in Conway, according to the police narrative. Martin made contact with the white truck’s driver, who was identified as Palacios. The truck, a Nissan Frontier, is registered in Florida.
Campbell reportedly noticed an unopened 1.75-liter bottle of tequila in the bushes and several empty beer cans in the roadway. According to Campbell, Palacios reportedly said he was going to Conway to swim in the river and was driving 35 to 40 mph when he swerved to avoid a deer. Campbell reports he told Palacios he estimated a higher rate of speed due to the extensive damage to the truck and the pole. Palacios also reportedly denied drinking any alcohol, though Campbell noticed his speech was slurred and there was “a moderate odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath.”
Palacios reportedly performed poorly in one field sobriety test and was unable to complete the others, according to the police narrative. Campbell reports Palacios twice declined a breath test — once at the scene and once after he was arrested and taken to the State Police barracks in Northampton for booking. Bail was set at $540.
Palacios is due back in Greenfield District Court for a pretrial hearing on Nov. 3.