By Robert Cann
IPSWICH — Police say they have tied a man arrested on a drunken driving charge Friday evening in Ipswich to the damage done to a wooden planter in Essex, thanks to a cell-phone caller who was tailing him.
Police said the caller told them the culprit, identified Kris Honkala, 42, of 3 State St. in Newburyport, struck the planter with his vehicle before making his way across the town line, where he was arrested by Ipswich police on Essex Street at 5:39 p.m.
Ipswich police charged Honkala with operating under the influence of alcohol (second offense), a marked-lanes violation and an open-container violation.
Essex police have taken out two summonses for Honkala: leaving the scene of an accident and a marked-lanes violation.
Essex police were not able to reach Honkala before he crossed the town line and credited the cell phone caller with tying him to the accident in Essex.
