Man involved in crash outside Port school pleads guilty
Oct. 27—NEWBURYPORT — A Plum Island man who crashed into three cars parked on High Street by Newburyport High School in 2019 pleaded guilty to a second drunken driving offense Wednesday and was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail.
As part of a plea deal, 60-year-old Brian Adolph saw all but 45 days of his sentence suspended for three years while he is on probation and because Adolph had just finished serving 45 days in jail, he was expected to be released the same day. For the next six months, he must remain at home and wear a GPS tracking device. He can only leave for doctor appointments. Until his probation ends, Adolph can't drive, must remain alcohol free, and he will be fitted with a SCRAM monitoring device to make sure he doesn't drink.
Adolph was charged on March 12, 2019, with driving while under the influence of alcohol (third offense), reckless operation of a motor vehicle and a marked lanes violation. By the time of his plea deal however, the drunken driving charge was reduced to a second offense.
According to a report, it was just past 10 a.m. when Newburyport police Officer Ryan Cutter heard a crash while parked near the high school. At the same time, he received word from a dispatcher that other people were responding to a vehicle crash in the same area.
When Cutter first saw Adolph he was standing outside his heavily damaged car. The car, which was missing a front tire, had struck three parked cars near the school's High Street entrance.
Adolph told Cutter he was uninjured but the officer noticed he appeared unsteady on his feet, according to the report. Adolph asked Cutter if he had hit anyone from the high school. Cutter didn't think so but checked the three damaged cars anyway, the report states. The cars were empty.
Additional officers arrived at the scene and at one point, one of them had to lunge at Adolph to keep him from falling into the middle of High Street.
A witness to the crash told Cutter that she followed Adolph in her car as he traveled on Tyng Street and then turned onto High Street. During that time, Adolph was swerving all over the road nearly crashing into parked cars, the report states.
A second witness, who was leaving the high school at the time of the crash, corroborated the first witnesses' story. She added that once on High Street, Adolph almost collided into cars going the opposite direction, Cutter wrote in his report.
Cutter asked Adolph if he had been drinking or taken any drugs before getting behind the wheel. Adolph said he hadn't touched a drop, despite smelling of alcohol. He did say, however, that he drank a half-bottle of Robitussin cough medicine while driving. Adolph refused to take a blood alcohol level test and complete field sobriety tests. He was then handcuffed and placed under arrest.
Dave Rogers is a reporter with the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.
Dave Rogers is a reporter with the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.
