SHIRLEY — On Saturday, March, 2, 2024, at approximately 12:38 a.m., Sergeant Brandon Bruin of the Shirley Police Department was on patrol in a cruiser on Front Street traveling westbound near Frost Street (a 25 mph zone) when he saw a dark-colored Subaru heading toward him in the opposite, eastbound lane.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Sgt. Bruin and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“I estimated the vehicle’s speed to be between 40 and 43 mph,” Sgt. Bruin said. “I activated my moving radar and confirmed the speed at 42 mph. The vehicle began accelerating as it passed me. I turned around to pursue the vehicle and realized it was travelling fast.”
Sgt. Bruin caught up to the vehicle on Front Street and activated his blue lights. The vehicle then pulled over near Patterson Road and stopped.
“I then approached the operator and told him I needed to see his license and registration,” Sgt. Bruin said. “I observed the operator to have bloodshot and glassy eyes. I detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from inside of the vehicle and the odor of burnt marijuana as well. The operator was identified as Jospeh Huber of Harvard. I asked Huber where he was coming from and he stated in a slurred speech ‘The Bull Run. I am a dish washer there. I was dropping off a friend and going home.’ The odor of an alcoholic beverage became stronger as he spoke.”
Jospeh Huber, 38, is a resident of 57 Myrick Lane in Harvard. He’s single and works as a dishwasher for the Bull Run. The evening he was pulled over, his work day ended at about 9:30 p.m., according to police.
Sgt. Bruin then asked Huber how much alcohol he had to drink and he said he had “a glass of wine and a nip” before leaving work. I then asked him if he smoked marijuana recently and he stated that he did smoke marijuana before leaving work as well.
“Huber was acting lethargic and slow,” Sgt. Bruin noted. “I then asked Huber if he would perform SFSTs [Standardized Field Sobriety Testing] so I could determine his ability to operate a motor vehicle. Huber agreed to take the tests. I asked Huber if he knew the alphabet and knew how to count and he stated that he did.”
The first test Sgt. Bruin asked Huber to take was the alphabet test.
“I asked Huber to recite the alphabet starting with the letter ‘C’ and ending with the letter ‘X,’” Sgt. Bruin explained. “Huber stated he understood the instructions. Huber started with the letter ‘A’ and went to the letter ‘F’ properly then started mixing up letters and repeating letters. He did not make it through to the letter ‘X’ and there was no rhyme or reason to the alphabet. Huber tried two more times to complete this and could not. Huber failed this test.”
The next test Sgt. Bruin asked Huber to perform was “counting.”
“I asked Huber to count backwards starting with the number 49 and ending with the number 37,” Sgt. Bruin said. “Huber stated he understood. Huber started with the number 37 and started counting forward, then realized he was doing it wrong. He started with the number 49 and started counting backwards to the number 45 and lost count. He started stating random numbers and it made no sense. Huber tried this two more times with the same result. Huber failed this test.”
At this time, Sgt. Bruin returned to his cruiser and requested backup for the remaining field sobriety tests. Officer David Morrow responded shortly thereafter.
“I instructed Officer Morrow to conduct the remaining SFSTs,” Sgt. Bruin said. “Officer Morrow conducted the HGN [Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test], nine step walk and turn, and the one leg stand. I gave Huber the opportunity to blow in the PBT [preliminary breath test] and he blew a .078 BAC [blood alcohol content level]. At this time, Officer Morrow placed Huber under arrest for OUI alcohol and drugs. At Shirley PD [police department], I instructed Officer Morrow to book Huber under my supervision and I operated the BT [breath test] machine. Huber blew a .06 on both tests. He was informed that his license was suspended for the alcohol.”
Huber was formally charged with Operating Under the Influence of Liquor, Operating Under the Influence of Drugs, and Speeding.
Huber’s bail was set at $40.
After Huber’s friend posted bail for him, Officer Morrow submitted a Request for Immediate Threat License Suspension/Revocation form to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, citing Huber’s operation of a vehicle under the influence of drugs as the reason in his Supplemental Personnel Narrative.
Huber was arraigned in Ayer District Court on March 4, 2024.
He attended a pretrial hearing on April 17, 2024.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from March, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
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