A file photo of a Derby fire department UTV.
A Seymour resident was charged with driving under the influence in connection to a Memorial Day wreck involving Derby fire department equipment.
Patrick McGuire, 29, was arrested Oct. 19.
He allegedly took a fire department off-road vehicle for a drunken joyride hours after the Shelton-Derby Memorial Day Parade. The vehicle flipped, nearly severing his hand.
McGuire is being represented by the law firm of Lynch, Traub, Keefe & Errante of New Haven.
He was scheduled to be arraigned on the DUI charge at Superior Court in Derby Wednesday (Nov. 15).
“It will work its way through the court system and hopefully will be resolved satisfactorily for both sides,” attorney Hugh Keefe said.
The accusation against McGuire is detailed in an arrest warrant prepared by Derby Police Officer Eric Grella.
According to the warrant, emergency responders were sent to a motor vehicle accident 3:30 p.m. May 29 in front of a condominium complex at 233 Derby Ave.
Police saw a Kubota off-road vehicle on its side with gasoline pouring out. The vehicle belonged to Paugassett Hook and Ladder, a Derby volunteer fire department company, according to police.
The officer allegedly saw McGuire leaning against the vehicle. His hand was crushed.
“He appeared to have major injuries to his left hand as it was bleeding heavily and the bones and tendons were visible,” according to the arrest warrant.
McGuire was wearing his “firemen’s dress blues,” with shoulder patches showing membership with the Webster Hose volunteer fire company in Ansonia.
McGuire appeared to be under the influence, as he was stumbling, according to police. He was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital for medical treatment.
Police noted that when the Kubota was flipped over, several beer bottles fell out.
Derby police interviewed McGuire by phone June 3, according to the warrant for his arrest.
McGuire allegedly told the officer that he attended the Derby-Shelton Memorial Day Parade, and then drove to the Paugassett Hook & Ladder Co. No. 4 at 57 Derby Ave.
He was at the Paugassett firehouse from about 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., during which he “believes to have consumed approximately six beers and one shot of Fireball whiskey.”
“He stated that he did not eat any food on this day and as a result became intoxicated quickly,” according to the warrant.
The arrest warrant does not provide any information on how McGuire managed to get possession of the fire department’s off-road vehicle.
He is not a member of the Paugassetts.
The Derby Fire Department conducted an internal review of the incident. The Valley Indy submitted a Freedom of Information request to Derby government Nov. 6 in an attempt to review the document, but the request has not been acknowledged.
Derby Fire Commissioner Michael Kelleher told The Valley Indy McGuire did not have permission to drive the vehicle, though the department opted not to pursue criminal charges.
Kelleher said drinking alcohol is allowed at firehouses in Derby on special occasions. An ordinance adopted by the Derby Board of Aldermen in 2001 bans alcohol in firehouses except at volunteer fire company sponsored events, or when the facility is rented.
“Our insurance provider also allows the serving of alcohol on special occasions which are determined by the officers of that firehouse,” Kelleher said.
Kelleher said that during the review of the crash, no one said they saw McGuire drinking.
“As far as drinking, we went through that with the (fire department) officers on scene, and no one saw him drinking there, as far as they could remember,” he said.
The arrest warrant notes that McGuire drove the fire department’s Kubota to the bar at the Catholic War Veterans building down the road at 112 Derby Ave.
He then allegedly asked his brother, who was at the bar, to go for a ride in the Kubota.
The pair drove a short distance on Derby Avenue toward Ansonia before turning sharply into a parking lot and flipping the vehicle on its side.
Derby police used a search warrant to get McGuire’s medical records, which showed he was given a breath test for alcohol. The results showed he was three times over the legal limit, according to police.
The medical report did not include results from any blood or urine tests, according to the arrest warrant.
