WAREHAM — A judge has ordered home confinement, GPS monitoring and alcohol testing for Carlos J. Owen Jr., a five-time OUI offender arrested Christmas Eve on charges of driving drunk and injuring three people after crashing into their vehicle on Cranberry Highway.
Owen, 51, will only be allowed to leave his Bourne home to go to work. His son will have to drive him to and from work as Owen’s driver’s license was revoked for life this week by the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
During a dangerousness hearing Thursday in Wareham District Court, Assistant District Attorney Catherine Ham asked Judge Beverly J. Cannone to hold Owen without bail for 90 days as the dangerousness statute allows.
Ham said Owen’s five prior drunken driving conditions and his initial denials last week to police that he was involved in an accident demonstrated that bail and release conditions were not enough to ensure the community’s safety.
“He will endanger the safety of others if he is out,” Ham said.
Defense lawyer Jack Atwood asked for a “modest” bail, and highlighted testimony Thursday from Owen’s son that the defendant always reports to work on time and sober.
Cannone ordered Owen to home confinement with GPS monitoring, and allowed him to leave his house from 6:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. during the week to go to work.
Owen, who owns a painting business and works with his son, must also provide the court with his weekly work schedule and can only leave his house during the weekends for work. He also cannot drink alcohol and will be tested regularly at home with a breathalyzer connected to the Probation Department’s computer system.
Owen’s son, Jarrod Shiek, said Thursday that until recently he had not known how many prior drunken driving offenses his father had. Shiek said he had seen his father drink on occasion, but never heavily, and that he had never shown up to work drunk.
“He drinks, but I didn’t see it as a problem,” Shiek said. “I’ve never seen him go out and get smashed.”
According to court records, Owen’s five prior convictions for drunken driving occurred in 1977, 1980, 1985, 1993 and 2002.
Owen’s driving history shows a two-year revocation of his license, along with two lengthy suspensions. His license was revoked from 2003 to 2005 after his fifth conviction, and was reinstated in March 2005.
The registry also suspended Owen’s license for 120 days in 1993 and again in 2002 for refusing to take an alcohol test, according to his driving history.
On Dec. 24, just after 8:30 p.m., Wareham police received a report of a crash at the intersection of Cranberry Highway and Elm Street. Witnesses said a black Jeep Cherokee rear-ended the victims’ vehicle and took off.
The accident injured three people, including a passenger who was pried from the mangled wreckage and flown by medical helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He was released on Christmas Day.
Wareham Police Sgt. Kevin Walsh found the Jeep Cherokee at the Mill Pond Diner parking lot and saw Owen walking from behind the diner. Walsh said Owen smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred. Walsh said Owen at first denied driving the Cherokee, but then said: “Okay, I’ll tell the truth. I just came from the bar down the street. I was driving.”
Wareham Police Officer Karl Baptiste said Owen told him he had drank four to six beers prior to getting behind the wheel. Baptiste said Owen failed a field sobriety test because he was swaying, smelled of alcohol and could not say the alphabet. Owen later refused to submit to an alcohol breath test.
Owen is charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol; driving while under the influence of alcohol with serious bodily injury resulting; negligent operation of a motor vehicle; and leaving the scene of an accident after causing serious bodily injury.
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