Amesbury man gets 150 days in jail for OUI

Jun. 25—AMESBURY — A Brown Avenue man arrested for a third drunken driving offense in February after running a red light at the busy Route 110/Elm Street intersection was sentenced to 150 days in jail Wednesday after admitting a judge could find him guilty if he went to trial.

Michael Hanna-Evans, 51, will only have to spend another 11 days in jail, however, after Newburyport District Court Judge Allen Swan gave him credit for 137 days already served.

Hanna-Evans was initially sentenced to 18 months in jail but Swan suspended all but 150 days for three years while on probation. While on probation, Hanna-Evans must remain drug and alcohol free and wear a SCRAM alcohol monitoring device for the first 18 months.

After that, he will be screened for drugs and alcohol randomly by the court's probation department. Hanna-Evans also lost his driver's license for eight years and must pay more than $1,600 in fees and fines.

Hanna-Evans was also charged with having an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle, improper operation of a motor vehicle, resisting arrest and failure to stop or yield. He was sentenced to three years of probation for the resisting arrest offense and found not responsible for the other charges.

Amesbury police Officer Samuel Marlar was looking for speeders Feb. 6 at about 9:45 p.m. on Elm Street near a construction site when saw a blue Toyota Prius drive past a "road closed" sign so he could continue on Elm Street toward Route 110.

Marlar fired up his police lights and began driving after the Toyota.

"The vehicle continued driving at an increased rate of speed through a solid red light at the intersection of Elm Street and Macy Street (Route 110)," Marlar wrote in his report.

Hanna-Evans then made a "sweeping left turn" onto Route 110 so he could enter the on-ramp to Interstate 95. It was on the on-ramp where Marlar was able to pull him over.

Upon speaking to Hanna-Evans, Marlar could tell he was under the influence of alcohol. Hanna-Evans told Marlar he was heading to Amesbury.

When told he already was in Amesbury, a confused Hanna-Evans told the officer he was actually going to "see a girl in East Boston." He also told Marlar that he just had "several drinks" at a nearby restaurant, according to the officer's report.

By this time, Officer Thomas Nichols had arrived to assist.

Hanna-Evans failed a series of field sobriety tests and registered a blood-alcohol level of .182, more than twice the legal limit for drunken driving. He was handcuffed and told he was under arrest. He then fell to the ground, laid on his back with his feet crossed, and refused to get up.

When the officers ordered him to cooperate, Hanna-Evans began swearing at them. He also threatened to kick one of the officers between the legs. A third officer arrived and it took all three to pick up Hanna-Evans and place him in a cruiser.

At the Amesbury police station, Hanna-Evans continued to threaten to kick the officers. He also demanded to be transported to Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport for a mental health evaluation.

A local ambulance crew was called to the station and drove him to the hospital, according to Marlar's report. He was later transferred from Anna Jaques to a Worcester hospital for evaluation.

Staff writer Dave Rogers can be reached at drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.