Revere man charged as drunk who took out Rte. 1A

A Revere man who allegedly plowed into a utility pole on Rte. 1A early Sunday, setting off a string of transformer explosions that shorted out power to surrounding areas and shut the road for much of the day, had bail set at $500 at his arraignment today on OUI and driving without a license, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Santiago Gonzalez, 41, proved unable to navigate 1A around 4 a.m. on Sunday, on account of being drunk, the DA's office says. Exactly how drunk, police can't say, because he refused a breath test - which would be good for a six-month suspension of his license, if only he had one - but he failed field sobriety tests, the DA's office says. According to the DA's office:

Boston Police officers responded to the area of Route 1A North and Boardman Street in East Boston at approximately 4:00 a.m. Sunday. While en route, officers observed transformers arcing and blowing up along Route 1A. At the scene of the crash, they observed a telephone pole that had been chopped in half, transformers and junction boxes on the ground, and a power outage affecting a large surrounding area.

Officers approached a white Toyota Tundra that was stopped on the grass off the side of the roadway and found Gonzalez in the driver’s seat; officers detected the odor of alcohol and observed that Gonzalez had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.

While at the scene, officers were approached by a taxi driver who stated that he crashed into the raised curb after striking the downed wires on the northbound side of the roadway.

No injuries were reported as a result of the crash.