Drunken Driving Crash Closes Route 63 for Hours

Route 63 near Bradbury Street - at North Church Street near Hop Brook Golf Couse - was closed for several hours Saturday after a drunken driver struck a utility pole, police said.

The pole was busted at 1:10 Saturday morning when Reuben Barnes, 29, of 169 Margaret Circle, Naugatuck, drove into it and thens led the scene on foot, police said. He turned himself in at the Naugatuck Police Department a short time later.

Barnes was charged with driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol and evading responsibility. He was released on a $500 bond and is scheduled to appear at Waterbury Superior Court on Nov. 29. 

This is the second time this week that a portion of Route 63 been closed due to someone striking a utility pole. after a man who doesn't have a license hit a utility pole around 6 a.m., abandoned the car and was caught by police walking to his girlfriend's house on High Street.