10 face drunken driving charges, 222 ticketed in Route 24, I-195 crackdown

By Sarah N. Mattero, Globe Correspondent

Cracking down after a string of deadly accidents, State Police charged 10 people with drunken driving and issued citations to 222 others on Route 24 and Interstate 195 in Southeastern Massachusetts over the weekend, authorities said Monday.

Highlighting the danger on the roads, those facing charges included a man who allegedly was the driver in a two-car crash and another man who was allegedly driving the wrong way on one of the highways.

Eleven additional weekend patrols have been deployed on the highways through the end of September. They will run from 8 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Saturday, and 8 p.m. Saturday until 4 a.m. Sunday. Normally, only three State Police units are on those roads at those times.

Six people have been killed in crashes on Route 24 this year, compared with five traffic deaths on that highway in all of 2011, David Procopio, a State Police spokesman, said last week as the agency announced the stepped-up patrols.

At 1:35 a.m. Saturday, state troopers arrested Jose Perez, 49, of Brockton, on charges of operating under the influence after a two-car crash on Route 24 northbound, in Freetown, that sent him and a female victim to the hospital with minor injuries. Perez was also charged with negligent operation and a marked lanes violation, State Police said.

At 3:15 a.m. Sunday, State Police intercepted an alleged wrong-way driver on Route 24 in Berkley. Nicholas Pilla, 25, of New Bedford, was charged with operating under the influence and negligent operation.

In addition to the drunken driving arrests, State Police said they also made one felony arrest, six misdemeanor arrests, and issued criminal summonses to eight drivers.