Late Saturday afternoon, a large truck crashed into a utility pole on Barnes Road, causing a brief power outage. The driver, Steven Strople, 27, of Oak Bluffs, was arrested, according to Oak Bluffs Police.
Police have charged Strople with negligent operation of a motor vehicle, marked lanes violations, leaving the scene of the accident, and intimidation of a witness/juror/police/court official.
Oak Bluffs Police were dispatched at 4:30 pm Saturday to a single-vehicle crash on Barnes Road. Sgt. Daniel Cassidy told The Times the police station experienced a brief power outage before he was dispatched to the scene of the accident. Oak Bluffs Police, Fire, and EMS responded to the scene. Police closed off the northern end of Barnes Road near Hudson Avenue.
The crash snapped the utility pole in half, and caused the truck to flip over. “Snapped in half,” Cassidy said of the pole. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
According to Cassidy, the operator and passenger of the vehicle fled the scene. Police then searched for the two, and were eventually given a tip of the residence of the passenger, where police found them and arrested Strople. Both refused to go the hospital.
Strople had been given permission to use the vehicle to move property from one location to another. Cassidy was told by a dispatcher that Strople had contacted the owner of the vehicle, and said the car had been stolen from Strople’s current residence on Shirley Avenue.
When Cassidy arrived at the Shirley Avenue residence, Strople told Cassidy that he loaded the truck up with items, and then took a nap. When he woke up, he noticed the truck was “stolen,” and went to look for it on foot.
In his police report, Cassidy wrote he could detect a strong odor of alcohol coming from Strople, who said he had a couple drinks when he saw the vehicle was gone.
According to the report, Cassidy saw a small cut on Strople’s head as he bent over to put out a cigarette. Strople said the cut was from “rubbing his head with back of his arm.”
Strople repeatedly denied driving the vehicle.
Cassidy also spoke with Steven Sullivan, who arrived at the Shirley Avenue residence to retrieve his belongings for work. Sullivan told Cassidy he was coming from the skate park near the YMCA. After further questioning, Sullivan told Cassidy he had been in the vehicle during the crash while Strople was operating it.
After his arrest, Strople called the police station and told them he had lied about the crash, according to the report. He admitted to losing control of the vehicle and running from the scene.
Cassidy said the officers dispatched to direct traffic were expected to work for four to six hours, but were at the scene as Eversource employees worked to repair the pole until 2:30 am.
While police suspected alcohol played a factor, Strople was not charged because officers were unable to perform sobriety tests at the scene.
Strople will have his pretrial hearing on Feb. 18. Bail was set at $200.
Are the police withholding this person’s name?
If the driver was arrested it should be in the next court report in both papers. Everyone who is arrested gets in there, which should be a deterrent to those who routinely drink and drive, but unfortunately it isn’t.
while it is easy to assume that this person was drinking at the time of the accident. But, as we all know, he is innocent until proven guilty.
Apparently the moral of this story is if you are drunk and snap a utility pole in half, flee the scene as fast as you can, when you get home, start drinking heavily, and be certain to have that bottle in your hand when they bust down the door.
There you have it, helpful tips for a long Vineyard winter.
Certainly not the first time a DUI charge was avoided by fleeing. I can think of several instances of this just over the past couple years.
An unfortunate loophole, but guilty beyond a reasonable doubt is a thing.