City raps worker after crash

City officials will place a longtime Water Department employee on unpaid leave after police say he drunkenly crashed his pickup truck into police headquarters late Monday night.

Just before midnight, Angel Hernandez, 45, of Waltham pulled into the rear parking lot of the Lexington Street station, police spokesman Detective Sgt. Tim King said.

On a surveillance tape, Hernandez is seen idling in his Ford Ranger pickup truck before accelerating forward, turning left and crashing into the door as officers assembled 20 feet away for roll call.

Police found Hernandez alone and unconscious in his truck before he was taken to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries. As of noon yesterday, Hernandez was still hospitalized, King said.

Hernandez will be summoned to court at a later date and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol - fourth offense, driving without a license and operating to endanger, King said.

When he was hired by the city in 1997, Hernandez had two previous drunken driving convictions - one in Roxbury in 1986 and another in Waltham in 1990, said Mayor Jeanette A. McCarthy.

The third conviction, said McCarthy, came in 2003 in Ayer. After the last conviction, Hernandez was allowed to drive city vehicles during the day with a "Cinderella license," McCarthy said.

A Cinderella license, or a hardship license, allows those convicted of a drunken driving offense to drive a vehicle for 12 hours a day to get to and from work and perform job duties.

Although the police station shares a parking lot with the Consolidated Public Works Department, the Fire Department and the Water and Sewer Department, police could not provide an explanation for Hernandez's late-night visit.

"We're not sure why he was back there or what he was doing," King said. "Through (our) investigation, there could potentially be more charges filed."

At the time of the crash, the officers starting their shift were 20 feet away from the doorway for roll call, King said. The garage-style door leads into a hallway that connects to a garage, gym and meeting room.

"Within minutes, they would have been leaving roll call," King said, and some of the officers would have headed into the hallway and into the garage to retrieve their cruisers.

The crash sent glass and debris flying, but no one other than Hernandez was injured, he said.

If the crash were intentional, King said police have not identified a motive.

After receiving updates throughout the morning, McCarthy said she would put Hernandez on unpaid leave while the investigation continues.

"He's going to be put on unpaid leave, and if he wants to contest that he can," McCarthy said. "We're not going to tolerate this kind of activity."

Although she is unaware of any tensions between the Water Department and the police, McCarthy said, "There's been a lot issues in the Water and Sewer Department, which we're clamping down on."

The majority of the department's issues, said McCarthy, involve work productivity and fall under personnel matters.

The Water and Sewer Department is part of the city's Engineering Division.

A representative from the Engineering Division could not be reached for comment.

A longtime colleague found Hernandez's actions hard to believe.

"(He's) always been a good guy, a good employee, a hard worker. I don't understand what happened," said Eddie Callahan.

Callahan said he saw Hernandez on Monday afternoon, and Hernandez didn't act unusual or out of character.

"I don't see him having a grudge. He was pretty easy-going," Callahan said.

City employees cleared debris and cleaned up the area yesterday morning.

King could not provide a cost estimate of the damage.

Kerri Roche can be reached at kroche@cnc.com or 781-398-8009.