BERNARDSTON — A 38-year-old Bernardston man was arrested on drunken driving charges after he failed to pull over during a motor vehicle stop, according to state police.

Joseph A. Fleming of Parmenter Road was arraigned in Greenfield District Court Tuesday on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and failure to stop for police.

According to a report by Trooper Jesse Gadarowski, police were monitoring traffic on Interstate 91 north in Greenfield May 5 at 5:48 p.m. when they conducted a random vehicle registration check on a Toyota Corolla. After learning the registered owner of the vehicle had no license on record, police began to follow the car and initiated a motor vehicle stop as it was exiting the highway onto Northfield Road in Bernardston.

Gadarowski wrote that the driver, later identified as Fleming, initially tapped the brakes and then continued straight, motioning at the troopers with his left hand out the driver’s side window, raising his arm and waving it back and forth.

The troopers then activated the cruiser’s siren and continued to follow the vehicle up Bald Mountain Road and onto Parmenter Road, according to the report. The driver refused to stop, even after police announced over the cruiser’s loudspeaker for the vehicle to pull over multiple times. In response, Fleming would raise his left hand out the window and shake it back and forth, according to the report.

The vehicle eventually pulled into a driveway on Parmenter Road, and Fleming was arrested. Gadarowski estimated in his report that Fleming had traveled nearly a mile while failing to stop for police.

Gadarowski wrote he could smell alcohol on Fleming and he had glassy, bloodshot eyes. As soon as he was placed in handcuffs, a woman, identified as Jessica Bahr, came running out of the house screaming at the troopers, demanding they let Fleming go and get off her property, according to the report.

As they began escorting Fleming to the cruiser, Gadarowski wrote, Bahr continued to scream at them and lunged forward, swinging her arms wildly in front of them. Bernardston police officers arrived to assist. Police tried to place Bahr in handcuffs, but she tried to get away, according to the report.

She was initially placed under arrest for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, but after learning she had two young children in the house and nobody to care for them, police decided to summon her to court instead, according to the report.

Gadarowski wrote when asked whether he had consumed any alcohol that night, Fleming said he had three shots of liquor and was planning to drink more later. He was transported to the Shelburne Falls barracks for booking, where he refused a breath test and was generally noncompliant, according to the report.

A check of his criminal history in New York showed Fleming was convicted of drunken driving in 2006 and he was also charged with unlicensed operation in Gill in February, according to the report.

Bail was set at $140 and Fleming was released on personal recognizance following his arraignment. He is due back in court July 8 for a pretrial conference.

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