WCAC

Instead of going to trial, Ward 3 city councilor George Darcy took a plea deal Thursday on OUI and hit-and-run charges from last fall.

Darcy, shown at his arraignment last October in Waltham District Court, was allegedly drunk when he struck another vehicle on Main Street and fled the scene.

On the charge of operating under the influence (OUI), Darcy was placed on probation for a year, ordered to enroll in a driver alcohol education program, will lose use of his drivers license for 45 days and must pay court costs.

 

Sufficient facts were found for the second charge of leaving the scene of property damage, but it was continued without finding for 6 months.

If Darcy complies with the terms of the plea agreement, the charges will be dismissed in the respective timeframes with no criminal conviction, even though he admitted to responsibility on both counts.

No Trial

Around midnight on October 16, 2022, Darcy was heading northbound on Heard Street when he struck the left rear end of another vehicle heading westbound on Main.

 

According to a Waltham Police report, the male hit-and-run victim, who was not injured, tried to speak with the driver, but he fled.

The victim pursued the city councilor into a cul-de-sac off Forest Street, eventually cornering him until police arrived. 

Waltham Police administered field sobriety tests and arrested Darcy, whose license was suspended when he refused a Breathalyzer test.

 

Darcy was scheduled for a jury trial last Thursday, with the hit-and-run victim in court, ready to testify.

The trial was delayed, and Darcy’s attorney James Milligan struck a deal with the prosecutor.

The plea deal spares the longtime city councilor the potential embarrassment of having Waltham Police officers testify in court about his level of intoxication during field sobriety tests and booking.

Election Switch

It also means a pending jury trial will not hang over his campaign this fall for a new city council seat.

 

Darcy will not run in his North Waltham ward along the Lexington and Belmont lines, but rather for one of six at-large seats representing the whole city.

Darcy is one of Waltham’s longest serving city councilors, having represented Ward 3 since 2004.

File photos