FITCHBURG, MASS. (WHDH) - A repeat drunken driver is facing an operating under the influence charge for the fourth time after slamming into a state police cruiser in Fitchburg late Monday night, authorities said.
A trooper was standing next to a vehicle he had pulled over in the area of 245 Summer St. just before midnight when a 2007 white Honda Accord struck the rear of the cruiser, which had its emergency blue lights on, according to state police.
The driver, 48-year Craig Jatrinski, of Fitchburg, exited the vehicle and the trooper, along with other troopers who responded to the scene, noticed that Jatrinski was uninjured but that he allegedly was slurring his speech and smelled of alcohol.
Troopers administered field sobriety tests and a portable breathalyzer test before placing Jatrinski under arrest.
He was transported to the state police’s Leominster barracks, where troopers learned he had been charged with three prior operating under the influence offenses and that his driver’s license was suspended as a result of one of the prior charges.
Jatrinski now faces the charges of OUI liquor — fourth offense, OUI while suspended for OUI, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, driving an unregistered motor vehicle, and failure to move over for an emergency vehicle.
While at the barracks, Jatrinski allegedly refused to submit to a breath-alcohol test.
Jatrinski was held on $5,000 bail pending his arraignment in Fitchburg District Court.
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