Gloucester District Court: $1,000 fine, 6 months jail for driving drunk

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April 12, 2012

Gloucester District Court: $1,000 fine, 6 months jail for driving drunk

By Steven Fletcher Staff Writer The Gloucester Daily Times Thu Apr 12, 2012, 05:52 AM EDT

A Gloucester man was ordered to serve six months in jail and pay a $1,000 fine after pleading guilty to his third drunken driving offense.

Kevin O'Connor, 37, of 21 Atlantic Ave., also pleaded guilty to a charge of driving on a suspended license Tuesday in Gloucester District Court. He was also charged with failure to keep in the right lane of a roadway, and having an open alcohol container in his car.

He also pleaded guilty to a charge of speeding, a marked lanes violation and was placed on two years probation for negligent operation.

For the drunken driving charge, Jennings fined O'Connor $1,000 and handed him a year's jail sentence, with six months to be served and the balance suspended for two years. His license was also suspended for eight years.

Officers arrested O'Connor after his SUV slammed into a tree of Southern Avenue in Essex last month.

When officers responded, they found O'Connor standing outside of his vehicle, talking on a cell phone. When police spoke with him, he appeared intoxicated, according to the incident report.

Bystanders, who called 911 after O'Connor's vehicle sailed off the road and split a tree, helped him out of his vehicle.

He told officers he had been drinking, and he was taken to Beverly Hospital by ambulance. O'Connor refused to submit to a blood test and was taken into police custody on his release from the hospital.

A Rockport man pleaded guilty to assault and battery and assault with a dangerous weapon Tuesday in Gloucester District Court.

Judge Jennings sentenced Michael Kariores, 38, of 64 Main St., Apartment R, to a nine-month suspended jail term, with 67 days deemed served.

The sentence was suspended until April 2013. Jennings also placed Kariores on probation until April 2013.

The sentence followed Kariores' arrest last month at his home after he allegedly held a broken drinking glass to a woman's neck and hit her with a slipper. Police reports stated Kariores was uncooperative during the arrest and booking.

Kariores also pleaded guilty to charges stemming from two thefts in August of last year involving the same woman and her daughter.

According to police reports, Kariores made four unlawful withdrawals from the daughter's checking account totaling $645, and stole a $600 check from the woman's purse.

Christopher Souza, 33, of 72 Grove St., pleaded guilty to driving on a license suspended due to drugged driving.

Jennings fined Souza $1,000 and sentenced him to six months in jail, with 60 days to be served, and 34 days credit for time served. The balance will be suspended until next April.

Gloucester police arrested Souza after receiving a notice to watch for a 2002 Ford Windstar driven by someone with a suspended license.

Police stopped his vehicle in the Maplewood Avenue 7-Eleven parking lot. He was arrested after they found that his license was suspended for the prior drugged driving offense.

Jennings placed Christian Militello, 39, of 9 Perkins Road on a year's pre-trial probation on a charge of breaking into a car.

Militello was arrested last June and accused of breaking into an unlocked car on Witham Street. He allegedly stole $2 in change from the vehicle.

A charge of driving on a suspended license brought against Phillip Sowerder, 46, of 50 Rocky Neck Ave., was continued without a finding for a year.

Police arrested Sowerder on Route 128 in August 2010 after pulling him over because his rear bumper was in disrepair. Officers found his license was suspended and he was arrested.

Steven Fletcher may be contacted at 1-978-283-7000 x3455, or sfletcher@gloucestertimes.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stevengdt.