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December 8, 2009

Suspect back on road for one day

Driver charged with third DUI

By Stacie N. Galang

SALEM — A man who lost his license for drunken driving got it back on Thursday and the very next day went on a drunken jaunt through Peabody and Salem, where he was arrested, police said.

Salem District Court Judge Richard Mori ordered James P. Malone of North Reading held on $10,000 cash bail yesterday, twice the amount recommended by police prosecutor Lt. Conrad Prosniewski. Malone faces two charges, failure to stop and drunken driving, third offense.

Malone was last arrested in January on drunken-driving charges he faces in Woburn District Court, which caused his license to be suspended for the six months, Prosniewski said. His license was reinstated Thursday.

"And the next day he gets picked up for drunk driving?" Mori asked. "What timing."

"Yes," Prosniewski responded.

The lieutenant said a police dispatcher in Peabody received the first call on Malone on Friday around 10:20 p.m. An erratic driver in a red Buick was traveling on Boston Street into Salem. Salem police officers found Malone driving from Summer Street onto Margin Street, Prosniewski said.

Officers noticed the car weaving in front of the post office, saw it run a stop sign at Mill Street and pulled the driver over on Endicott Street, according to the police prosecutor.

Malone attempted to open the door about 20 times but couldn't and eventually managed to roll down the window. The officer could smell alcohol coming from inside the Buick.

"His eyes were red and watering," Prosniewski told the judge. "His speech was slurred."

When officers asked Malone where he had come from, he told them his house and gave the same answer when asked where he was going.

The driver struggled to get out of his car and during a field sobriety test could not lift up his left leg without losing his balance, the police prosecutor said.

Standing outside, Malone urinated on himself. He also was unable to recite the alphabet, Prosniewski said.

After being taken back to the police station and read his Miranda rights, Malone was given two Breathalyzer tests, the police prosecutor said. His blood alcohol content was .20 on the first try and .21 on the second, the police prosecutor said. The legal limit for drunken driving is .08.

"His license was seized and destroyed at this point," Prosniewski said.

He said another driver had followed Malone from Peabody and had seen him lose control of the Buick and strike a tree. The police prosecutor said officers could not determine which tree had been struck.

"The tree could have been a vehicle or another person," Prosniewski told the judge when asking for $5,000 cash bail.

Malone's attorney, Loring Lincoln, said his client has worked for the same company for 14 years and pays $300 a week in child support. Malone has always paid his child support and has reliably shown up for court dates on his latest drunken-driving charge, Lincoln said.

The defense attorney asked to lower Malone's bail to $500 cash, but Mori disagreed and ordered Malone held on $10,000 bail. The judge also ordered Malone not to drive while his case is pending.

While Mori said he couldn't speak for the charges in Woburn, he thought the commonwealth had a strong case for Malone's Salem drunken-driving charges.

"Here, he'll have a difficult time beating this," the judge said.

Malone's next court date is set for Jan. 6.

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