3 People Called Wilmington PD On Tewksbury Selectman's Driving

TEWKSBURY, MA — Tewksbury Selectman Mark Kratman was "confused" and at times unintelligible when he was pulled over in Wilmington Monday, according to the police report. The report says that three people independently called the police over erratic driving before police pulled it over. At that point, he was unable to find his vehicle registration or answer clearly where he was going. He had had "like three beers," he told police.

Kratman was arraigned Tuesday and his next court date is Dec. 6. He has not responded to calls for comment.

The police narrative says that police were first dispatched shortly before 6 p.m., and stopped Kratman on Woburn Street in Wilmington. Callers, including one who had followed Kratman's vehicle, said he was "swerving and had driven over the curb," was driving "erattically," and ws "holding up the flow of traffic and failing to drive forward with the green light." Police Officer Michael Wilson, who wrote the report, said he "almost struck a utility pole."

Once Kratman was pulled over, he gave the police his license "with some difficulty," but was unable to find his registration. He gave the officer his vehicle inspection report instead, and then, when he was told it was not his registration, he "returned to the glove box, moved several piles of paper around, then picked up the same Vehicle Inspection Report I had just given back to him, and presented this to me again."

Wilson wrote, "I could immediately observe his eyes to be red, bloodshot and glassy and there was a strong odor of alcoholic beverage."

The car also began rolling backwards when Kratman shifted his weight, the report says, because it was not set to park. After being ordered to do so, "he eventually shifted it towards "Park," with great difficulty, and then turned the car off." At this point Wilson asked if Kratman had been drinking.

"He stated that he had 'a few beers.'"

Over the next section of the narrative, Wilson writes that Kratman gave several answers when asked where he was going and when he was coming from. At different points he said he was coming from home, he was coming from Boston, and he was coming from Veterans Day Events. At one point, he said he had "driven everyone home," and gestured toward the back seat, saying, "ask them."

"I informed Mr. Kratman that there was no one else in the vehicle, and he was the sole occupant, and he looked at me again," Wilson wrote.

At another point, after Kratman said he was coming from Tewksbury and going home to Tewksbury, another officer, Officer Michael Johnson, asked him if he knew where he was.

"Kratman looked at both Officer Johnson and I, then began to look around the area for something to help him answer the question. Mr. Kratman continued to look confused and remained silent for approximately 5-10 seconds, and then turned away from us," Wilson wrote.

When police asked Kratman out of the vehicle, he "was extremely unsteady on his feat" and "nearly fell out of his car." Wilson found a bottle of prescription medication whose effects "can be enhanced or worsened when combined with alcohol." Kratman said he'd taken it twice that day.

Kratman then failed or was unable to complete three sobriety tests. Police stopped him from taking the "nine step walk" and "one leg stand" tests because they were worried he would fall into traffic. He refused to take a roadside breath test.

"At this point I formed the opinion that Mr. Kratman was intoxicated. I placed him into handcuffs," Wilson wrote.

At the station, he blew a .20 breath test. His license was suspended and destroyed by police.

Kratman was first elected selectman in 2015. He is currently the board's vice chair. He ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for a state house seat in 2018.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at chris.huffaker@patch.com and 412-265-8353.