May 3, 2007
Pappas not guilty of OUI
By Jonathan Graham
WORCESTER -- A six-person jury found a Fitchburg police detective not guilty of drunk driving after a two-hour trial in Central District Court Wednesday.
Det. Perry N. Pappas, 50, showed little reaction after hearing the verdict, which came after less than an hour of deliberation.
Pappas' attorney, Steven Panagiotes of Fitchburg, patted him on the back after the jury foreman read the verdict.
Panagiotes said afterward the police had little evidence for the charge of operating under the influence of liquor.
"Not much of a case, I did nothing," Panagiotes said. "I walked in, I stood up and that was it."
Pappas did not comment after the trial, and Panagiotes said his client would not speak with a reporter.
Fitchburg Police Chief Edward Cronin said Pappas' status will be reviewed in the next few days in light of Wednesday's verdict.
"(Capt. Mark Louney) was at the trial today ... and he will meet with me tomorrow and we will review at that point," Cronin said Wednesday.
Pappas was previously moved from the Drug Suppression Unit to the staff services division, although he still takes part in drug raids while there, Cronin has said.
Cronin said he would not speculate about what he may decide after the administrative review.
Louney and Sgt. Thomas Daoust attended Wednesday's trial.
A state police trooper arrested Pappas at about 3 a.m. on March 10 after a Honda Civic struck his Jeep Cherokee just north of Exit 5 on I-190, in Sterling.
Panagiotes said Pappas had been driving back from Worcester when the accident occurred, but declined to go into any more detail.
Pappas refused to do any field sobriety tests and also refused to take a breathalyzer, according to a police report written by state Trooper Michael Caranfa.
Pappas lost his driver's license for six months after he refused the breathalyzer test, but he can apply to have it reinstated after Wednesday's verdict.
The test refusals were not mentioned during Wednesday's trial. The district attorney's office has previously said the refusal to take sobriety tests is not admissible at trial.
Pappas wore a dark suit with a green tie during the trial. He looked straight ahead for most of the trial, rarely turning his head.
Pappas told Caranfa he had been driving the Jeep and that he had had two beers that night, Caranfa testified.
"I noticed the odor of alcohol on his breath and I noticed his eyes were glassy and bloodshot," Caranfa said.
Caranfa also noticed an odor of alcohol in his cruiser while transporting Pappas to the state police barracks.
Pappas did not sway or appear off-balance, and did not slur his words, Caranfa said under questioning by Panagiotes.
Two other state police troopers at the barracks testified that Pappas did not appear drunk.
Panagiotes said while giving his closing argument that Caranfa's state police crash report showed his client was parked in the breakdown lane.
"How do you hit a vehicle, which we know from the trooper, that was parked in the breakdown lane?" Panagiotes said to the jury.
The other driver in the two-car wreck, Reginald Sanford, 24, of Leominster, appeared in court Wednesday, walking with the help of crutches.
Sanford had a hip replaced because of the accident, said his civil attorney, Nicole B. Caprioli, who also attended the trial.
Sanford said Wednesday he was driving North on I-190 when he saw Pappas' car quickly coming toward him.
"I'm coming closer and closer to the car ... I try to move but it's too late and I hit the car," Sanford testified.
Sanford said Pappas' vehicle was in the breakdown lane on the right side of the highway, but then came into his lane.
Panagiotes showed Sanford a signed statement he made to police a few days after the accident, in which he said he did not know if Pappas' Jeep had been moving.
"You don't know what the vehicle was doing, do you?" Panagiotes asked.
Trooper Caranfa testified that skid marks and gouge marks in the road show the Honda Civic was traveling the in breakdown lane when it struck Pappas' vehicle.
Police cited Sanford for his role in the accident, Panagiotes said at an earlier hearing in Worcester, Wednesday.
Caranfa said skid marks show the Honda Civic veered toward the guardrail, then began coming back into a travel lane when it struck Pappas' Jeep.
Caranfa said the skid marks could have come from a different vehicle, but he does not think that is the case.
At Panagiotes' request, Caranfa demonstrated where the marks on the highway were on a chalkboard.
Caranfa also said the force of the accident meant Sanford's Honda Civic was traveling at a "significant speed," not at 63 mph as Sanford had testified earlier Wednesday.
Sanford said he saw a female passenger in the vehicle, but Caranfa's police report makes no mention of Pappas' having a passenger.
Pappas began speaking with Sanford's passenger, Peter Rivera of Fitchburg, after the accident, Sanford testified.
"(Pappas) was muttering, it was mumbling, I couldn't really understand it," Sanford said.
Sanford described it as "how someone would talk if they were drunk."
Panagiotes questioned the other driver's credibility in his closing argument.
"It's not only what a person says, but how they say it ... How he said it, was there any convictions in those statements?" Panagiotes asked the jury.
Sanford testified Wednesday he had been at a club in Worcester before the accident, and had had one drink.
He said he and friends then went to Denny's before returning home to Leominster.
Panagiotes questioned Sanford's motive in testifying, noting he had hired a civil attorney.
Special Prosecutor John Goggins, a Worcester attorney, defended Sanford during his closing argument.
The Leominster resident would have created a more convincing story "if he was out to bury Pappas," Goggins said.
Goggins filed a motion asking for the trial to be delayed because Sanford's passenger, Rivera, did not appear in court Wednesday, but District Court Judge Austin Philbin rejected it.
Sanford also said he and his passenger saw Pappas throw a black bag into the woods right after the accident.
Sanford's passenger would have testified he searched through the woods the day after the accident and found a case of beer, Goggins said.
Rivera took pictures of the beer in the woods and also collected it, Goggins said.
Rivera has a warrant out for his arrest in another state and "they are looking to extradite him," Goggins said.
A woman with Sanford carried a black, plastic bag filled with Coors Light out of the courthouse after the trial.
Sanford's attorney said neither she nor he would comment about the case because he has ongoing insurance litigation
March 20, 2007
Police: Detective was parked in breakdown lane before collision
FITCHBURG -- The police detective charged with drunken driving had been parked in the breakdown lane on I-190 when another vehicle collided with him, a state police spokesman said Monday.
"There was a deep gouge mark in the breakdown lane at the point of impact, and that was located five feet from the fog line," said State Police Sgt. Robert Bousquet.
Det. Perry N. Pappas' arrest occurred after a 2004 Honda Civic collided with Pappas' vehicle at about 2:55 a.m. on March 10.
A police spokesman had said last week that Pappas had been stopped when the accident occurred, but could not tell from available police reports where on the highway Pappas had stopped.
State police charged Pappas, 50, with operating under the influence of liquor after an on-site investigation. Pappas refused to take a Breathalyzer test at the time, according to the state police.
Bousquet said the accident report filed by Trooper Michael Caranfa did not state why Det. Perry N. Pappas had pulled his 2000 Jeep Cherokee into the breakdown lane, or where he was coming from at the time.
Police Chief Edward Cronin has moved Pappas out of the Drug Suppression Unit to the staff services division, but Pappas still takes part in some police drug raids and other non-administrative police work.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on the OUI charge in Clinton District Court on April 13.
The driver of the 2004 Honda, Reginald E. Sanford, 24, of Leominster, may be cited by police for his role in the wreck, Bousquet said.
Sanford was discharged from UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester on Sunday and could not be reached for comment. His mother declined to comment when reached by phone Monday.
State police had given a different name for the driver in the other vehicle last week, but Bousquet said the error resulted from a mix-up of Sanford's driver's license number.
Mayor Dan H. Mylott said he is talking with Cronin about Pappas' charges and his status within the police department.
"I am continuing that conversation, it is a personnel matter, and I don't have a comment to make," Mylott said Monday.
March 14, 2007
Police officer on desk duty
By Mary Jo Hill TELEGRAM &
GAZETTE STAFF
FITCHBURG— A city police detective who is part of the drug suppression unit was
arrested Saturday on a drunken driving charge after his car stopped on
Interstate 190 in Sterling and was hit by another car, said state Trooper Kara
M. England.
Perry N. Pappas, 50, of Fitchburg, was charged with driving under the influence
of alcohol, Trooper England said.
A 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee being driven by Detective Pappas had stopped on
Interstate 190 northbound when it was hit by another vehicle, Trooper England
said, citing a preliminary investigation.
The trooper said yesterday that Matthew C. Irish, 34, of Worcester, was driving
the 2004 Honda Civic that hit Detective Pappas’ Jeep, but there is no indication
in the report that Mr. Irish has been issued a citation.
When asked whether Detective Pappas’ Grand Cherokee was in the breakdown lane at
the time of the crash, Trooper England said the incident remains under
investigation.
One detail that remains in question is the identity of the driver of the Honda.
After being contacted by reporters about the crash, Mr. Irish said, “I have no
knowledge of this incident. I was not involved.”
Mr. Irish said he learned of the accident Monday when a reporter contacted him,
and he’s still trying to determine what happened. Yesterday, he said he hadn’t
been able to see the accident report or speak to the arresting officer.
“I am concerned that I’m a victim of identity theft,” Mr. Irish said.
Mr. Irish said he doesn’t own a 2004 Honda Civic, and at the time of the crash
he was sound asleep next to his wife, who is seven and a half months pregnant
with twins.
State Police Sgt. Carol MacDonald said Mr. Irish needs to speak with the
arresting trooper and prove that he wasn’t the driver involved in the crash.
The accident, which was reported about 2:55 a.m., occurred north of Exit 5 in
Sterling, the trooper said.
Mr. Irish was taken by ambulance with minor injuries to UMass Memorial —
HealthAlliance Leominster Campus, Trooper England said.
Peter Rivera, 22, of Fitchburg, was a passenger in the Honda and wasn’t injured,
the trooper said.
Detective Pappas wasn’t injured either, Trooper England said.
Detective Pappas is scheduled to be arraigned April 13 in Clinton District
Court, according to the court.
Fitchburg lawyer Steven Panagiotes confirmed that he is representing Detective
Pappas but wouldn’t comment on the case.
Police Chief Edward F. Cronin said Detective Pappas was in the drug suppression
unit, which investigates drug cases.
Since his arrest, he has been transferred to the staff services division, and
he’s been assigned to work in house, Chief Cronin said.
Detective Pappas’ driver’s license was suspended, so he can’t perform some of
his duties that require driving, Chief Cronin said.
Police Capt. Mark W. Louney is doing an internal investigation into the
incident, the chief said.
The internal investigation will determine whether any of the department’s
policies have been broken, Chief Cronin said.
“We just take these matters very seriously,” Chief Cronin said.
Detective Pappas has been with the Fitchburg Police Department for 20 years and
spent about four years of that time as a detective, the chief said.
In 1999, Detective Pappas, who was off duty at the time, was one of two
passengers in a vehicle being driven by a 20-year-old woman who was drunk. The
vehicle hit a utility pole. The woman suffered severe head injuries in the crash
and died six months later at home.
March 13, 2007
City detective arrested for alleged DUI
By J.J. Huggins and Jonathan Graham
State police arrested Fitchburg police Det. Perry N. Pappas for drunken driving after a two-car accident early Saturday morning.
Trooper Kara England of the state police public affairs unit said a man driving a 2004 Honda Civic collided with Pappas, 50, on I-190 northbound in Sterling at 2:55 a.m., north of exit 5.
The crash happened while Pappas was stopped on the highway in a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee, but England didn't know why he was stopped or which lane he was in, she said, reading from a report from a trooper who was on-scene.
Trooper Michael Caranfa determined Pappas was intoxicated and arrested him, according to England.
"The investigating trooper had enough information to believe he was operating under the influence of alcohol," England said.
The other driver sustained "minor injuries" and was taken to HealthAlliance Hospital/Leominster by rescue crews from Sterling, England said.
The other man had a passenger with him, and Pappas was alone, according to England.
Pappas did not sustain any injuries, England said.
State police took Pappas to the Holden barracks to book him, and he was later released on personal recognizance bail, according to England.
Pappas refused to take a chemical test after the crash, and his license has been suspended for 180 days as a result, according to his driving record.
No one answered the door at Pappas' Fitchburg home Monday afternoon.
The other driver is not facing any charges in connection to the crash, according to England.
England said she couldn't say how fast the man was driving prior to colliding with Pappas.
Both the Honda and the Jeep had to be towed away, she said.
"There was heavy damage to both vehicles," she said.
Police charged Pappas with one count of operating under the influence of liquor.
He is scheduled to be arraigned in Clinton District Court on April 13, according to court documents.
A conviction could result in up to two and a half years in prison, according to court documents.
Pappas is a 20-year veteran cop who made detective about four years ago, according to Fitchburg Police Chief Edward Cronin.
Pappas is being moved from the Drug Suppression Unit to the department's staff services division because of the charges, Cronin said Monday.
"He's being moved to an inside assignment as we're moving forward with an investigation," Cronin said.
Pappas will do mostly administrative tasks with the staff services division, Cronin said.
Capt. Mark Louney is handling the department's investigation into the allegations, Cronin said.
Cronin said he has not yet seen the police report from the accident and said it's "too early to comment on what's going to happen with this."
"I don't have a lot of details," he said. "I don't have the adequate facts to make any kind of decision on this."