WILLIAMSTOWN -- A 67-year-old Vermont man was arrested Thursday night after his son called the Massachusetts State Police to say his father would be on the road, driving drunk.
Richard Wiseman, of Murray Hill Road in Manchester, Vt., was charged in Northern Berkshire District Court (NBDC) on Friday with third-offense operating under the influence of alcohol (OUI), possession of an open container of alcohol inside a motor vehicle, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, a marked-lanes violation and failure to stop.
Reporting to police Thursday evening, his son, a Williamstown resident, said he suspected Wiseman drunk and on his way to Williamstown from Pennsylvania.
He noted receiving "incoherent text messages" from Wiseman and his "history of alcohol problems," a report filed by Trooper Noah Pack of the Massachusetts State Police said.
Wiseman was reportedly supposed to be on house arrest in Pennsylvania due to two prior OUI charges he'd received in that state in 2006 and 2012.
Though "numerous agencies were contacted and on the lookout" for Wiseman's Toyota FJ Cruiser, it was Pack who located the vehicle passing while he waited at the intersection of Route 43 and Route 7 in Williamstown.
Pack said the vehicle was swerving dramatically in between lanes and initially did not stop despite his activation of both police lights and siren.
Wiseman, smelling strongly of alcohol, Pack said, subsequently failed all
An on-site breathalyzer test found Wiseman's blood alcohol content to be .238, and three "mostly empty" open bottles of vodka were found in his Toyota, according to police.
Wiseman was booked and transported to Berkshire County House of Correction on $10,000 bail late Thursday night.
If found guilty, he faces 180 days to two-and-a-half years in a house of correction and up to $15,000 in fines. He could be indicted by Berkshire Superior Court and then face two and a half to five years in state prison, but the NBDC assistant clerk magistrate said "it's not likely" Friday.
Wiseman's pretrial date was scheduled for Feb. 25 by Judge Michael J. Ripps and he was granted a pretrial release under conditions that he report to a probation officer and not drive.
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