October 17, 2011
Mary Ann Bragg | Cape Cod Times
ORLEANS – The arraignment of Truro Police Chief John Lundborn on charges of operating under the influence was continued this morning until Nov. 4.
Lundborn, 44, was arrested by members of his own department Friday night after he allegedly drove a Truro Police Department vehicle off Pilgrim Heights Road in Truro and crashed in the woods, according to a police report. He has been charged with operating under the influence and negligent operation of a motor vehicle.
He did not appear in Orleans District Court. His attorney John Vigliotti of Worcester said that Lundborn is currently under medical care.
Outside the courthouse this morning, Vigliotti would not comment on the case to reporters.
“The case is going to be played out in the courts,” he said. “It’s going to be tried in the courts. I’m not going to play the case in the media.”
Asked where Lundborn is currently, Vigliotti would only say that he has “been dealing with his issues.”
Truro police were alerted to Friday’s accident by a Cape Cod National Seashore ranger, who had discovered the crash while on patrol, according to a police report by Truro police Sgt. Craig Danziger.
According to the police report, Lundborn was driving an unmarked Dodge Charger police vehicle on Pilgrim Heights Road near Route 6. The vehicle went off the paved road, crashed into the woods and “sustained significant damage.”
In his report, Danziger described approaching the cruiser. Lundborn was seated in the driver’s seat.
“I observed that his pants were pulled down to the mid thigh area exposing his underwear,” Danziger wrote in his report. “I observed cuts on his hands. I observed that the Charger’s air bags had deployed and that the windshield was cracked. The driver’s side window of the Charger was down. I could smell a strong odor of alcoholic beverage from the Charger’s passenger compartment.”
The report described Lundborn’s eyes as “watery, glassy and severely bloodshot. Chief Lundborn said to me, ‘Craig, you got called in for this?’ Chief Lundborn stated to me, ‘I am done Craig. My life is over.’ ”
Questioned by Danzinger, Lundborn said he had been drinking “a lot” and his “speech was slow and slurred,” the report stated.
Lundborn was arrested at the scene and taken to the Cape Cod Hospital emergency room. He was released early Saturday morning on personal recognizance and remained at the hospital overnight for evaluation, the report said.
The case will likely be moved off-Cape to Plymouth District Court, a fairly routine process in order to prevent any appearance of a conflict of interest, according to court proceedings this morning.
Lundborn has been with the Truro Police Department since 1989 and was named chief in June this year. He is the youngest chief on the Cape and runs the smallest department, earning $102,000 a year.
He is the youngest chief on the Cape and runs the smallest department, earning $102,000 a year.
