Lynn woman charged with drunken driving following Swampscott wreck

LYNN – A local woman charged with drunken driving after she allegedly caused a crash in Swampscott that sent her and three other victims – including a child – to the hospital was released after her arraignment, but ordered to stay off the roads.Police arrested Dana M. Hartigan, 47, of 32 Everett St., and charged her with operating under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, a marked lanes violation, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and three counts of possession of a Class E substance on Wednesday at 5:23 p.m., according to court documents.Hartigan was released on personal recognizance at an arraignment Thursday in Lynn District Court and ordered not to drive without a valid Massachusetts license.Reached Friday, Hartigan declined to comment.Police responded on Wednesday at approximately 1 p.m. to a report of an accident at Essex Street and Boulder Way in Swampscott, according to a police report prepared by Swampscott Police Officer Brendan Reen.A witness told Reen she found a car and a taxi cab in a head-on crash in the northbound lane of Essex Street on the Swampscott side of the railroad bridge and identified the drivers, according to the police report. Police believe that Hartigan was traveling southbound and swerved into the northbound lane where she hit the taxi cab.A man and a male child were passengers in the taxi, according to the report.But Hartigan denied that she was driving.”Hartigan told me in a manner of speech that seemed very slurred, that she did not know what happened,” Reen reported, noting “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her breath.””Hartigan told me that her husband had been driving the vehicle. I asked Hartigan where her husband was and she told me that he left,” Reen said in the report.But Reen reported that the driver’s seat in Hartigan’s vehicle was very close to the steering wheel, and Hartigan was approximately 5-foot-3-inches tall and 100 pounds. The Registry of Motor Vehicles listed Hartigan’s husband, the owner of the car, as 5-foot-8-inches tall, the report said.Police arrested Hartigan at the hospital for operating under the influence of liquor. A blood sample revealed a blood alcohol level of 0.13 percent, the report notes.Hartigan then told police she had been drinking since leaving Lynn Juvenile Court earlier that day, according to the report.”Hartigan stated she drank two ‘nips’ of root beer flavored schnapps,” the report says. “An empty ‘nip’ bottle of Smirnoff espresso flavored vodka was found inside the vehicle.”Hartigan also reported having “a couple of glasses of wine,” the report notes.After her discharge from the hospital, Hartigan was booked at the Swampscott Police Station where an inventory of her pocketbook revealed three small green pills of Klonopin, a Class E substance.”Hartigan told me that she does not know why the pills were in her bag and does not know who put them in her bag,” the report notes.Hartigan is scheduled to appear in court again March 1.Cyrus Moulton may be reached at [email protected].