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Man drives nearly 20 miles the wrong way down I-93, the last 6 with all four tires blown out; was heavily drunk, police say

Tire with no rubber left

From Medford to Storrow Drive on just rims. Photo by Live Boston.

State Police credit the lack of traffic early this morning for the lack of any crashes due to a Reading man speeding down I-93 southbound on the northbound side from Wilmington all the way to Leverett Circle, where he got on Storrow Drive the wrong way before finally getting cornered in a parking lot near Mass. General.

State Police say they tried from Wilmington to Medford to get the man, name not released because he was taken to a local hospital for observation before being charged, to stop. In Medford, troopers put down "stop sticks," which blew out the tires on the guy's Volvo sedan, but he kept on going on sheer determination and rims until finally winding up in the parking lot near the hospital, where he tried to hide from troopers, but failed.

Troopers conducted a thorough search of the area and located the man, who was heavily intoxicated. The suspect a 36-year old male from Reading was brought to Tufts Medical Center for a medical evaluation.

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Comments

Good thing there weren’t any bike lanes along the way. That could’ve been really dangerous!

Seriously though, why wasn’t this person arrested and their name publicized? This is an outrageous incident that endangered anyone else on the roads.

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State Police decided he needed some medical observation first and they only release suspect names after they've been formally charged, which will presumably happen after he's discharged.

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Unless he's a police officer, especially if he's BPD.

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He didn’t hit anyone so you can’t go charging for things that didn’t happen

Chances are this person not only has a drinking problem but other mental health issues . Don’t really see the helpfulness in publicly shaming someone who needs help

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The reason his name hasn't been released yet is covered by Adam.

But yes, release his name when charged. That's how our criminal justice system works. Charged ain't guilty, and our system works with more transparency, not less.

And as every recovering alcoholic and every person actively dealing with mental health challenges will tell you, being either is no excuse for being an asshole, and certainly no excuse for being dangerous criminal behavior.

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He didn’t hit anyone so you can’t go charging for things that didn’t happen

He'll probably be charged with driving to endanger, which is a crime whether he hit anything or not.

A nitpick: Those rims are aluminum, not steel.

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Reckless driving or driving to endanger, possibly DUI, possibly failure to pull over.
He could have gotten all the way down to MGH and the parking lot without necessarily blowing a red light or a crosswalk (depending on what he did behind the Garden, but I'm sure they could plausibly tack on other things if they needed to - like failure to stay in lane, failure to signal turn, failure to observe posted sign....

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He'll probably be charged with driving to endanger, which is a crime whether he hit anything or not.

And well he should be! It would serve him right if he ended up in the slammer for awhile, as well as getting his license revoked for awhile.

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Is the reason you want to coddle this dangerous criminal is that you are also a garbage person who drinks and drives?

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I’m glad he didn’t hit anyone. I don’t know his criminal record but he will
Definitely lose his license and probably have to attend AA to avoid jail time

Keep up the vitriol. Right.

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Adding vitriol to gasoline prevents engine knocking and increases efficiency. The reason it isn't done is that it also increases interdriver friction, resulting in road rage.

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Ah, you've confuse shaming with accountability. That's understandable, accountability has fallen out of fashion.

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Who would have guessed it?

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So sad & scary. Did y’all see “There’s Something Wrong w Aunt Diane”? This guy needs major help before hurting himself or others

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I wonder why they brought him to tufts if he was already at general

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Hospitals have drunk tank/ safety rooms. Similar to a padded cell for morons who want to hurt themselves.

The one at Mass Gen was probably occupied.

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Christmas morn in the drunk tank.

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maybe beds availability due to number of covid patients.

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Not a good time to be in any hospital.

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my main complaint with need for speed franchise is how unrealistic it is to outrun the cops after running over a spike strip; but apparently, its possible.

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I wouldn’t say he/she ‘outran’ the police... they usually have protocols in place to avoid extraneous damage to properties and other civilians nearby when pursuing someone. Also I believe the adage is that you can outrun the cop but can’t outrun the radio.

They got caught, only real damage was to their own car. Enjoy the insurance surcharge after an OUI!

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it might be a bit hard to even _get_ insurance.

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Agreed, BigBird.
I'm sure there are some general guidelines in any pursuit situation where they weigh the risks of "hot pursuit"/overtake versus simply keeping pace. Doubly so if they would have been pursuing him wrong-way. They could pace him on the other side of the road, too, but then need a spot to get back to him (and by the time you reach the double-deck section they would have more trouble pacing him)

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Ten or twelve more stunts like this one and you might get your license suspended for 48 hours

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Ten or twelve more stunts like this one and you might get your license suspended for 48 hours

Or longer, perhaps!

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