AYER — On Monday, April 29, 2024, at 12:04 a.m., Officers David Lansing and Casey Scott of the Ayer Police Department were dispatched to the area of 107 West Main Street to investigate a report of a one car motor vehicle accident.
“While enroute, we were advised that there may be two people in the area arguing or yelling,” Officer Lansing said.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Lansing and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
When he arrived on scene, Officer Lansing was met with a motor vehicle – later found to be registered to Danny Boyd of North Brookfield – parked on the westbound side of the road of West Main Street with all of its tires on the roadway.
According to police, Danny Boyd, 58, is a resident of Brookfield Road in North Brookfield. He’s single and works as a chef.
“While I was pulling into the area, I observed a male party walking on the sidewalk adjacent to the westbound lane of West Main Street picking up what appeared to be debris. The party was walking towards the parked motor vehicle,” Officer Lansing said. “I also observed a consistent black mark on the surface of West Main Street. The black mark appeared to begin somewhere in the middle of the westbound lane of West Main Street, curve towards center line, and then curve back away from the center line and towards the area where the motor vehicle was parked.”
Officer Lansing asked Boyd why he was picking up car parts from the street.
“He said that because they belonged to his car,” Officer Lansing said. “I also heard Danny yell ‘$h*t,’ ‘dammit,’ or ‘f$ck,’ and “my life is over.”
Boyd told Officer Lansing that while he was driving, his cellphone rang. He swerved and hit something when he looked down to get his phone. Boyd added that he was unsure of what he hit.
“I asked Danny if he had an ID,” Officer Lansing said. “As I spoke to Danny, he continued to yell either ‘$h*t,’ ‘dammit,’ or ‘f$ck,’ out of anger, and referred to his car as his baby.”
Officer Lansing said that as he spoke with Boyd, he would walk around and occasionally lean against a nearby guardrail.
“Despite his frustrations, Danny was respectful and polite,” Officer Lansing added. “As I continued to speak to Danny, I heard that he had a thick tongue and slurred speech. I asked Danny if he had been drinking and he told me yes, and then told me that he had two beers with the last beer he had approximately one hour ago. I could also see that Danny’s eyes were glossy and slightly bloodshot. I could also smell a moderate or strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Danny’s breath.”
Officer Lansing returned to his cruiser and asked Officer Scott for assistance while asked Boyd to perform some field sobriety tests.
“I turned off my cruiser lights, ensured my forward headlights were on low beam and my spot light was below eye level,” Officer Lansing said. “We made contact with Danny again and I asked if he would consent to taking some tests. Danny said yes.”
The first test Officer Lansing asked Boyd to perform was the alphabet test.
“Danny said that he had a high school education and English was his primary language,” Officer Lansing said. “I asked Danny if he could recite the alphabet without singing. He said that he could and did so without any problem.”
The second field sobriety test Officer Lansing asked Boyd to perform was the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test.
According to findlaw.com, the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test is a field sobriety test where an officer has an individual follow an object (such as a pen tip or pen light) with his/her eyes. The HGN test checks for the involuntary jerking of one’s eyes as they gaze side to side. This involuntary jerkiness is said to increase while under the influence of alcohol.
“I then asked Danny to put his hands at his sides and his feet together. Danny complied. I then placed a stimulus approximately 12-15 inches from his eyes,” Officer Lansing said. “I told Danny to follow the tip of the stimulus without moving his head. Danny said that he understood. As I conducted the test, I noticed a lack of smooth pursuit in both of Danny’s eyes (two clues), distinct and sustained HGN at maximum deviation in both eyes (two clues), and an onset of HGN prior to 45 degrees in both eyes (two clues). At the end of the test, Danny had demonstrated 6/6 clues.”
After failing the HGN test, Officer Lansing asked Boyd to perform the walk-and-turn test. This test requires the individual to walk heel-to-toe in a straight line with their hands at their sides for approximately nine steps (which are counted out loud), then turn around and walk back to the starting point in the same manner.
“We used the westbound lane fog line of West Main Street,” Officer Lansing said. “The area was relatively flat with a small bend downwards towards the sidewalk. I got Danny into the ready position and instructed Danny to put his left foot on the fog line, with his right foot in front of his left foot with his right heels touching his left toes. I told Danny to remain in this position until I told him to do so.”
Officer Lansing said that while giving him the instructions, Boyd stepped out of the ready position with both feet straddling the fog line (the white line on the edge of the road). Officer Lansing asked Boyd to get back into the ready position and he complied.
Officer Lansing said he instructed Boyd on how to do the walk-and-turn once again, this time, by demonstrating three of the nine the steps. He then asked Boyd if he understood the instructions and Boyd said he did.
“I told Danny to begin,” Officer Lansing said. “During the first nine steps, Danny stepped off of the line around step three or four (one clue), the step he took crossed over the line and Danny landed with his legs crossed. Danny then got back on the line after a brief pause (one clue) and continued to step nine. When Danny got to step nine, he paused and then took an improper turn compared to the way that I demonstrated. Instead of taking a series of small steps it almost looked like Danny pivoted on both of his feet to turn around (one clue). As Danny continued, he committed an offline step on or around step five. At the end of the test, Danny had demonstrated 3/8 clues.”
The fourth field sobriety test Officer Lansing asked Boyd to perform was the “one leg stand.” This test involves lifting one leg about six inches off the ground, while holding the foot in a position parallel to the ground, with arms kept at the sides.
“I got Danny into the ready position and told him to put his hands down at his sides and put his feet together,” Officer Lansing said. “I then advised Danny to remain in this position until told to do so. I then gave Danny the instructions for the test. I told Danny when told to do so, to raise one foot, any foot, approximately six inches off of the ground, point the toe and count out loud in the following manner: ‘one thousand-one, one thousand-two, one thousand-three,’ until told to stop. During the instructions, Danny asked me twice if it mattered what leg he raised. I told him that it did not matter. Danny raised his foot during the test and set it down twice before the thirty seconds concluded (one clue). I also observed Danny sway a little while he was conducting the test (one clue). At the end of the test, Danny demonstrated 2/4 clues.”
At this time, Officer Lansing formed the conclusion that Boyd was “drunk” and placed him under arrest for Operating Under the Influence of an Intoxicating Liquor.
Officer Lansing transported Boyd to the Shirley Police Station – as opposed to Ayer – to use their breathalyzer.
“Upon arrival, I was assisted by Shirley Officers [David] Morrow and [Kevin] Kirchdorfer,” Officer Lansing said. “Danny consented to taking the test and signed for it after being read his rights. Danny was also read his Miranda Rights from a card. After 15 minutes of observation (12:47 a.m. – 1:02 a.m.) hours, we administered the breath test. At this time, Danny coughed and the 15-minute observation time began again. During this time, the breath test machine timed out and had to be restarted. When Danny took the test, he had a BAC [blood alcohol content] of 0.17 (Seq. Test # 503; ALCOTEST 9510). Danny was provided with his notice of license suspension and his driver’s license was seized. I then cleared Shirley PD and returned to Ayer PD to complete booking.”
Officer Lansing said that during booking, Boyd complained of pain in his right wrist caused by the handcuffs.
“During my interactions with Danny from the time we departed the scene to now, he kept talking about how he screwed up, how his life was over, and said something to the effect of how he ‘f$ck*d up,’” Officer Lansing said. “He also apologized and told us that it was his fault for putting us through this.”
The bail commissioner, Matt Day, was contacted and Boyd’s bail was set at $40.00.
“I told Matt that Danny had cash on him and Matt said he would be there later. Danny was secured in male cell 6,” Officer Lansing said. “Later, Officer Scott provided property that he secured from the crashed motor vehicle. They were one bottle of closed gin. Two closed 10 packs of gin, and one unopened mini bottle of gin. These items were added to Danny’s property.”
According to Officer Lansing, Commissioner Day arrived shortly thereafter and Boyd was released on his own recognizance.
Officer Lansing then returned to the area of 107 West Main Street to further analyze the tire marks left by the accident.
“Upon arrival and from further view of the scene, I observed the black mark that I viewed earlier. The black mark started in the area just west of 98 West Main Street between two storm drains,” Officer Lansing said. “There was also a small puddle of a brown liquid that looked like motor oil. The black mark extended eastbound in the westbound lane of West Main Street, curved towards the center yellow line, then curved back to the area just west of utility pole 17-1S, where tire marks could be seen in a grassy area just north of the eastbound travel lane sidewalk, leading towards the utility pole, and away from the utility pole, where more tire track marks could be seen again in the grassy area just north of the eastbound travel lane side walk (95 West Main Street). Based on the totality of observations, Danny was operating his motor vehicle westbound on West Main Street, went off of the road near 95 West Main Street, struck utility pole 17-1S, swerved back into the roadway, veered towards the center line, then veered back towards the sidewalk and stopped just west of 98 West Main Street. Danny’s operation of a motor vehicle on a public way in Ayer, and crashing his motor vehicle into a utility pole was reckless and/or negligent behavior that could have put the lives and safety of the public in danger. Danny’s action to reach for his cellphone while operating his motor vehicle on a public way in Ayer, impeded proper operation of the motor vehicle under his control. Therefore, Danny was charged with the following:
M.G.L. ch. 90 s. 24 OUI Liquor
M.G.L. ch. 90 s. 24 Operating to Endanger (OTE)
M.G.L. ch. 90 s. 13 Impeded Operation”
Boyd was arraigned in Ayer District Court on April 30, 2024.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from April, 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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