Prominent Peabody attorney arrested for DUI – again

PEABODY – Prominent city attorney John Keilty, who routinely goes before the City Council representing clients, has been arrested a second time for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol.Keilty, 58, was arrested Sept. 11 with a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit after police spotted him driving erratically in his 1999 Mercury Sable on Washington Street without his headlights on.His driver’s license has been suspended for 30 days and he was arraigned Tuesday in Peabody District Court and released on personal recognizance by Judge Frank Sanchez. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22.According to police, Keilty, of 84 Ellsworth Road, Peabody, took a right turn onto Allens Lane without using his blinker and caused a driver behind him to swerve out of the way.After pulling him over, police say Keilty’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy and that he emanated an odor of alcohol. When asked where he was coming from, Keilty responded with a slurred speech that he visited Brodie’s Pub on Lowell Street and then ate steak tips and had a couple of beers at Champions Pub on Foster Street.Keilty told police he was a lawyer and a “good one” before he was asked to recite the alphabet, where he repeated the letters, D, G, J, K, P, T and skipped the letter Y.He then refused to take a portable breathalyzer test or any physical tests, but when he stepped out of his vehicle, police say he lost his balance twice and had to lean on the vehicle for balance.At the police station, Keilty agreed to take a breathalyzer test, where two results revealed .21 percent, nearly three times over the legal limit of .08 percent.Keilty was also charged with motor vehicle lights violation and failure to use care in start, stop, turn, back.His license was seized and information was faxed to the Registry of Motor Vehicles for suspension purposes.