FITCHBURG — Orange District Court’s chief probation officer faces charges of driving under the influence and carrying a firearm while intoxicated after allegedly crashing the vehicle he was operating into a tree in Athol last month.
William M. Delaney, 54, was arrested on Feb. 5 and pleaded not guilty the next day to four charges, which also consist of negligent operation of a motor vehicle and a marked lanes violation. He was released on personal recognizance. The case has been transferred to Fitchburg District Court due to his position in Orange.
Coria Holland, the Massachusetts Probation Service’s communications director, told the Recorder in an email that Delaney has been an employee of the probation service since March 1998.
“The agency, by law, cannot comment on pending or Personnel matters,” she wrote.
According to a narrative filed by Athol Police Officer Elizabeth Unaitis, she and Officers Brandon Newell, Zachary Duguay and Matthew Herk were dispatched to the area of South Athol Road and Carpenter Road at approximately 10:05 p.m. on Feb. 5 for a report of a vehicle crashing into a tree.
Officers Unaitis and Herk reportedly arrived on scene about 10 minutes later and found a vehicle off the road in the woodline of South Athol Road’s northbound lane. They also found a man, later identified as Delaney, standing at the open driver’s side door of the vehicle. All airbags had been deployed. Unaitis and Herk reported an immediate odor of alcohol. Delaney reportedly told officers he was uninjured and had been on the phone with his girlfriend when he spun out, according to the police report.
Unaitis reported observing snow in the roadway of South Athol Road’s southbound lane, by the Carpenter Road intersection, as well as pieces of the vehicle and tire marks in nearby snowbanks.
“The snow would have had to have come from the snowbanks on the side of the road,” she wrote. She and Herk noticed Delaney had glossy, bloodshot eyes.
Delaney told the officers he had a fully loaded semi-automatic pistol in the vehicle’s center console. The weapon was then secured in Duguay’s vehicle for safekeeping.
Delaney reportedly said he was coming from dinner with his daughter in East Longmeadow, where he had a glass of wine. He declined medical treatment, but officers noticed him stumble getting out of the ambulance. Police said he refused a field sobriety test and officers arrested him based on their observations of his bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, lack of steadiness of his feet, and the odor of an alcoholic beverage that intensified when he spoke.
Delaney was taken to the Athol Police station, where he was processed. His driver’s license was seized, as was his license to carry a firearm. The firearm and ammunition were logged as property and evidence, and Delaney received a ride home from his girlfriend.
He is due back in court on March 26 for a pre-trial hearing.