Massachusetts police officer in hot water over DUI crash, but a gun charge is making things a lot worse
Police arrest around 1.5 million Americans for driving under the influence (DUI) every year. It’s a sobering statistic. You can excuse the word play, but you can’t excuse the drivers for the crime. Especially when a violator is a police officer, like a Massachusetts police sergeant who is in hot water for a DUI car crash and having a gun in the car at the time.
A Massachusetts police sergeant is facing gun charges on top of a DUI for a June car crash in Rhode Island
Last month, a sergeant with the Bellingham Police Department crashed into a parked car while driving in the neighboring state of Rhode Island. That would be a relatively straightforward situation. If the Massachusetts police officer wasn’t drunk and in possession of a gun at the time.
Rhode Island police arrested Sergeant Kevin Heenan for driving under the influence (DUI). But, as if to complicate things, Heenan had a firearm in his car at the time.
According to the Milford Daily News, the police in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, charged Heenan with “operating a vehicle under the influence of liquor and possession of a firearm while intoxicated.” As a result, Bellingham Police Chief Ken Fitzgerald placed Heenan on paid administrative leave.
Now, Heenan is facing more than a suspension from his law enforcement duties. This September, the 10-year police sergeant is due back in court for his pretrial hearing.
Having a gun in the car can make things much, much worse
In Rhode Island, where Heenan had his DUI crash, there are strict laws prohibiting access to firearms while under the influence. Make no mention of doing so while driving a car.
According to Rhode Island’s General Laws Title 11, residents and visitors alike are prohibited by state law from “carrying or transporting a firearm while intoxicated.” Of course, drunk driving is illegal in every state. Having access to a firearm makes things that much worse.
Other states take it pretty seriously, too. While you can legally transport a gun in your car in Colorado, doing so while drunk changes the legal allowances for possessing a gun, per Matthew A. Martin Law.
Colorado law makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor for people to have a firearm in their possession while “under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance.” In short, Heenan might be in some pretty serious trouble for having that gun in his car at the time of his crime.
