Saugus man’s 7th DUI lands him in jail, no license for life

SALEM – A self-employed contractor from Saugus who admitted driving drunk for his seventh time will serve up to three years in prison and lose his license for life.In Salem Superior Court Wednesday morning, Craig Nelson, 49, of 14 Cliff St., avoided a trial by pleading guilty to operating a motor vehicle wile under the influence of alcohol, fourth or subsequent offenses, and leaving the scene after causing property damage.He will serve two and one-half to three years in state prison before being placed on probation for another two years.Judge David A. Lowy also ordered that Nelson refrain from all alcohol use, submit to random screenings, not drive and must attend five Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings per week while on probationary supervision.Assistant District Attorney John B. Brennan asked for a much longer punishment based on Nelson’s criminal record, noting his most recent conviction for drunk driving was in 1993 and his first was back in 1989.He described Nelson as a person who gets into a car, drives, and is playing “Russian Roulette,” while acknowledging that it was only a tree he hit this time.Nelson was arrested on the night of Aug. 21 after an accident in Saugus on Denver Street when he slammed his black 2005 Cadillac sedan into a tree.A resident who lives on Denver Street saw Nelson walk away from the accident and then down the railroad tracks and called police.When police arrived, they found Nelson trying to climb over a fence, Brennan said.As Nelson was being interviewed, police noticed a strong odor on alcohol on him and he was unsteady on his feet.He told them after being read his rights, “I shouldn’t have drove. I shouldn’t have left the house,” Brennan reported from a police summary.Defense lawyer Sharon Chaitin-Pollak pleaded for leniency, asking for 30-months in jail and probation, pointing out to Lowy the length of time between his last drunk driving offense.She said Nelson had been working as a partner in a family construction business, hadn’t driven for ten years after losing his license on the last offense and is accepting responsibility for his actions.If Nelson does not abide by all the probationary terms imposed, he is facing up to five years in state prison on the driving drunk offense and another two years in jail for leaving the scene of an accident.Nelson had been free on $4,000 cash bail since being arraigned and was confined to a sober house treatment center and wore an alcohol monitoring bracelet.