TAUNTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A Rehoboth family is outraged at a Taunton police sergeant who has been charged with drunken driving and crashing into a man’s motorcycle, leaving him with serious injuries over the weekend.
Shawn Smith, 49, of Raynham, has been placed on administrative leave after being arrested for a suspected drunken-driving crash that left a motorcyclist seriously injured, officials said.
Smith was arraigned Monday in Taunton District Court on charges including operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of liquor causing serious injury and negligent operation of a motor vehicle, according to Taunton Police Chief Edward J. Walsh. Smith, a member of the Taunton Police Department since November 2000, has been placed on administrative leave, Walsh said.
Officers responding to a reported crash between a pickup truck and a motorcycle at the intersection of Harvey Street and South Crane Avenue around 1:30 a.m. early Sunday morning found a 52-year-old Rehoboth man suffering from serious injuries, Walsh said. The man, later identified as George Haskell, was taken to Tufts Medical Center in Boston, and his sister Cheryl Shepley said his injuries were severe.
“The whole left side of his body has been broken,” Shepley said, adding the father of eight has already undergone two surgeries.
According to court documents, witnesses said they saw Smith swerving and driving in the opposite travel lane before the crash and police at the scene smelled alcohol on Smith. Shepley said she was furious that a member of the police was allegedly driving drunk.
“I support the police and the firefighters and our military … that someone in that capacity to get behind the wheel [while drunk] is infuriating,” Shepley said.
Smith was released on bail and ordered not to drink alcohol or to drive until the case is resolved. The investigation remains under active investigation with assistance by State Police detectives assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office.
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