Crime & Safety

Norton Man Loses Appeal on Seventh Drunk Driving Arrest in Attleboro

Steven Lahey loses an appeal in Supreme Judicial Court stemming from his seventh drunk driving arrest.

A Norton man who was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison in 2009 on drunk driving charges lost his appeal in Supreme Judicial Court after challenging his stop by a Norton police officer on Pleasant Street in Attleboro.

Steven Lahey of Norton filed an appeal in the Boston court after he was sentenced to prison for his seventh drunk-driving charge, which occurred in December 2007, according to court documents. 

Lahey was caught with an open bottle of beer after being stopped by Norton Police. Norton Police Officer Jeffrey Zaccardi stopped Lahey after he swerved to avoid a head-on collision with him.

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Lahey argued that Zaccardi, who stopped him at the corner of Pleasant and Lindsey streets, did not have the right to stop him because the officer was out of his jurisdiction.

The Norton officer, who was returning from escorting an ambulance to , radioed a Norton dispatcher to contact Attleboro Police and then stopped Lahey. Officer Richard Pierce Jr. arrived on the scene and took Lahey into custody.

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Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh gave Lahey a five-year prison term for the drunken driving charge, with a 2 1/2-year jail term for the suspended license charge, according to court documents. Lahey hoped to overturn Garsh's decision by asking Supreme Judge Meritas A. Hopkins to not allow evidence of dispatch communications between Norton and Attleboro police departments. His motion was denied and so was his appeal.


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