South Boston Man Allegedly Drives Drunk in Hingham With His Three Toddlers in Vehicle

Police say a South Boston man was driving drunk when he tried to escape the scene of an accident with three toddlers in his vehicle on Sunday.

According to witnesses at the Hingham Shipyard, Jonathan H. Barrett, 39 of 14 Thomas Park, S. Boston crashed his 1999 Toyota Land Cruiser into an unoccupied taxi in front of the Fresh Market and then took off, heading South on Route 3A.

The  minor accident occurred at 1:44 p.m. on Shipyard Drive,police said.

When officers caught up to Barrett’s vehicle, they found him with two 2-year-old twins and a 1–year-old toddler in the backseats, Hingham Police Sgt. Steven Dearth said.  All three toddlers were Barrett's children.

Police said Barrett smelt strongly of alcohol, had slurred speech, glassy eyes and was unsteady on his feet. Officers also found a half empty 375 ml of vodka wedged between the child safety seats.

Barrett denied drinking,  but during the Field Sobriety tests, he almost fell over and almost stumbled into the road, police said.

A 51A was filed on behalf of the children with the Department of Children and Families, police said.

A relative of the father, who lives in Hingham, came to the scene and took the kids, Sgt. Dearth said.

An officer on the scene, who is a certified Child Safety Seat Installation technician, found the three seats were not correctly installed in the Toyota.

That officer helped to properly install them into the Hingham relative’s vehicle and the Toyota was towed from the scene, police said.

Barrett was charged with operating under the influence of alcohol, three counts of OUI with Child Endangerment, leaving the scene of the crash after causing property damage, driving with an open container of alcohol, and market lanes violation.

He was released Sunday night on personal recognizance and was arraigned Monday.