Oak Bluffs police said Nestor G. Apri, 46, a native of Ecuador, was at the wheel of a pickup truck that sideswiped four cars parked along busy Ocean Avenue and Seaview Avenue about 3 pm, Sunday afternoon, and that he continued driving even after blowing out one of his tires, finally coming to a stop by the Steamship Authority terminal booth, but not before striking an adjacent stop sign.
Officer Dan Cassidy interviewed Mr. Apri at the scene. “Apri’s dexterity was horrendous,” Officer Cassidy wrote in his report. “Apri could barely navigate his wallet in and out of his pockets. Several times, Aprie needed assistance from not falling down.”
Mr. Apri had no valid government identification. Due to the language barrier and Apri’s “total lack of balance,” Officer Cassidy said, he was unable to administer a field sobriety test.
Officer Cassidy wrote in his report: “It should be noted at this time that there was heavy traffic due to a scheduled steamship boat with hundreds of walk-on passengers crossing the busy intersection.”
Police arrested Mr. Apri on charges that included operating under the influence of liquor; negligent operation; open container of alcohol; unlicensed operation, and leaving the scene of an accident.
Mr. Apri was transported to the Dukes County Jail, where he refused a breathalyzer. A witness told Officer Chris Wiggin that he saw Mr. Apri cut off traffic then stop, then pull forward and fail to negotiate the turn at the intersection of Ocean and Sea View avenues … “and drove into the first parked vehicle (Honda Pilot). The driver stopped for a few seconds and then drove away and continued striking the other parked vehicles as he went down the street. The driver did not strike all of the vehicles in a row; apparently temporarily correcting or swerving before drifting back again,” Officer Wiggin wrote in his report.
In Mr. Apri’s destructive wake was a damaged 2013 Honda Pilot, a 2008 Volvo, a 2016 Nissan Rogue and a 2016 Jeep Cherokee. Three of the vehicles were registered to out-of-state visitors, one of whom had to leave to catch a boat before speaking to police.
Mr. Apri was at the wheel of a 2004 Dodge Ram registered to Ziola Lazocabrera of Ossining, N.Y., and told police he worked for P&P Masonry of West Tisbury. Mr. Apri provided a home address in Ossining, N.Y.
Margie Pires of P&P said Mr. Apri was a subcontractor and had only arrived last Thursday from New York. Ms. Pires said the company did not know he was unlicensed and the whole incident was very distressing. She said she was grateful no one was hurt.
Oak Bluffs Police Lt. Tim Williamson said Mr. Apri has a record of two OUI charges in New York. Lieutenant Williamson said Mr. Apri might easily have struck a child or adult getting into a car after a day at the beach. “It’s fortunate it was just property damage,” he said.
As of Wednesday, Mr. Apri was being held on $10,000 bail at the Dukes County Jail. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also issued a detainee order for Mr. Apri, which asks local law enforcement authorities to hold an individual in jail while ICE decides whether to take the person into federal custody.
ICE issues detainee orders for a wide range of reasons: ICE wants to talk to the person, the person did not appear at a hearing, the person is wanted for a serious crime, or the person has already been ordered deported.
Mr. Arpi was previously removed from the country, according to a source not authorized to speak on the record.