Tewksbury Resident Spurs Finegold To Co-Sponsor Melanie's Law Amendment

Adopted budget amendment addresses issue brought up at Tewksbury Listening Forum

Editor's note: The following information was submitted by the office of State Sen. Barry Finegold, D-Andover.) During Senator Barry Finegold’s (D—Andover) Second Annual Listening Forum at the Tewksbury Library this month, constituents peppered Finegold with questions on a range of topics, one of which was addressed in the Senate’s fiscal year 2013 budget last week. Diane Poynton, a Tewksbury resident from Apache Way, asked about the loophole in Melanie’s Law that is allowing repeat drunk drivers to avoid penalties.  Senator Bruce Tarr (R—Gloucester) filed a budget amendment, which was adopted, to address the Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling that “continuance without a finding” resolutions in cases against certain defendants accused of …

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Sgt. Jop, Tewksbury PD Honored By MADD

Department honored for aggressive efforts to combat drunk driving in Tewksbury.

(Editor's note: The following inforamtion was submitted by the Tewksbury Police Department.) MADD Massachusetts honored Sergeant Walter Jop III and the Tewksbury Police Department for their commitment to enforcing drunk driving laws and keeping our roads safe at their annual Drive for Life law enforcement recognition breakfast at Devens Common Center on May 23. Annually there are roughly 16,000 OUI arrests in Massachusetts every year, averaging out to nearly 44 drunk driving arrests per day and one in three people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime. "Keeping our roads safe is dangerous and thankless work," said David DeIuliis, MADD spokesman. "We consider the men and women of law enforcement everyday heroes and …

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Viewfinder

IMAGE GALLERY: Mock Accident Raises Drunk Driving Awareness

Tewksbury first responders and volunteers show TMHS students first-hand the consequences of driving under the influence.

(Editor's note: This week, Tewksbury High School prepares for its Senior Prom and the Gradualtion Ceremony for the Class of 2011. We feel it's appropriate to revisit the recent mock accidents staged by the Tewksbury Police and Fire Departments for the TMHS juniors and seniors, designed to highlight the dangers and consequences of drunk driving.) A girl lay motionless in the street, her friend leaps out of the car to see if she is okay. The driver of one of the vehicles in the accident reels as he gets out of the car, slowly putting together the pieces of what happened just moments ago. All the teens on the scene have just had their lives changed forever. One girl was declared dead on arrival by paramedics responding to the car wreck. This …

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Police Log

Alleged Drunk Driver Misses House by a Few Feet

Tracks indicate he drove over 200 feet after leaving the road.

A 49-year-old man faces drunk driving charges after allegedly losing control of his car on Andover Street and plowing across two lawns before coming to a stop about 10 feet from the bedroom wall of a home on Greenmeadow Drive. Melvin Berger of 6 Farmview Ave., Methuen, was allegedly driving his sports coupe westbound just after midnight Saturday, when police say he lost control of the car, crossed the yellow lines and the eastbound lane and went up over a knoll. Tracks left at the scene indicate Berger then drove through an area of landscaped shrubbery, ripped a small tree out of the ground, jumped the curb, crossed over Green Meadow Drive, went over the berm, between a set of guy wires and a telephone pole another 30 feet across the lawn…

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VIDEO: Mock Accident Teaches Sobering Lesson to Students

Police stage drunk driving accident to teach students before prom.

It's a parents worst nightmare: their child is caught in an accident caused by drunk driving.  In an effort to prevent such a tragedy, the Tewksbury Police, in collaboration with Tewksbury's chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions (S.A.D.D.) and Tewksbury High School re-enact the nightmare scenario in front of the entire junior and senior classes.  The school presents the "mock accident" with stunning realism, from the sounds of the crash to the delivery of the worst news a parent wants to hear, that their child was killed in an accident involving drugs and alcohol. "It's like wow, this could really be me," said S.A.D.D. president and senior Renee Canlin, "It's a scary thought." The entire excercise took about 40 minutes.  The …

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