Hingham Repeat OUI Offender Ordered to Stay Away From Alcohol

A Hingham woman, who was arrested for drunken driving for a third time on Monday night, was told by a judge to abstain from drinking alcohol.

Patricia Darch, 57, of 16 Elm Street was arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Hingham District Court on charges of second-offense drunken driving, even thought she has been arrested three times for the same offense.

Police initially filed a criminal complaint against Darch for third-offense drunken driving, but the charge was amended to second-offense because one of her convictions, stemming from a Nov. 1997 arrest in Hingham, was overturned on appeal, according to WCVB.com.

In that case, Darch’s attorney argued that she had been "involuntarily intoxicated" by an excessive dosage of prescription drugs before colliding with another vehicle on South Street, WCVB.com.

On Tuesday a judge ordered Darch to stay away from alcohol and now she must submit to random testing while awaiting her next court appearance on June 25.

She was arrested at approximately 9:30 p.m. Monday night on Hersey Street after police said she crashed her 1999 Toyota Corolla into a traffic island in Weymouth and drove into Hingham with a shredded tire.

For full details on Darch’s 1997 arrest, read the full story on WCVB.com.