Car Crashes Into A Building

By Sergeant Marie C. Cleary

Wellesley Police Department Public Information Officer

At 6:00 PM on Wednesday, July 22, Wellesley Police Dispatchers Kelly O'Brien and Patrick Goodwin received one call, on the department's business line, reporting a car had crashed into a building on Route 9 at Overbrook Drive.  Specifically, the caller reported a vehicle had crashed into the Shell gas station.  Dispatchers O'Brien and Goodwin quickly dispatched the Wellesley Fire Department, along with Officers Frank Masiello, Mark Carrasquillo, and Detective Peter McLaughlin to the scene.

On arrival, Wellesley Police Officers found the driver of the car, a male, was not hurt and was sitting inside of the vehicle.  Officer Masiello spoke to the driver and detected an odor of alcoholic beverage.  Officer Masiello also noticed the driver was unsteady on his feet.  The driver stated to Officer Masiello that he thought he had stepped on the brake pedal, when in fact, he had stepped on the gas pedal, causing the crash.  

The driver was given 3 field sobriety tests which he did not pass.  The driver was subsequently arrested at the scene for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, and booked at the Wellesley Police Department's Central Booking and Intake Facility.    He was released on personal recognizance. 

Officers at the scene, under the direction of Sgt. Marie Cleary, determined that the driver was parked in a front end space on the east side of the Shell gas station.  The driver put the vehicle in reverse, and according to witness statements, struck another vehicle, before continuing through the glass window of the Shell gas station and into the building.  The driver was 77 and will be arraigned at Dedham District Court on July 23, 2009.