An 18-year-old Somerset man is facing serious charges after he allegedly drove drunk, passed a car going the wrong way on West Main Road and crashed, seriously injuring himself and a juvenile who were in the car with him.
David Menezes was charged with driving under the influence of liquor or drugs causing serious bodily injury and reckless driving after turning himself in to police yesterday at around 5:30 p.m.
The charges stem from a three-car crash that was reported at around 7:43 p.m. on Dec. 2 at the intersection of Mail Coach Road. Police said Menezes was driving a blue Saab in the left northbound lane of West Main Road, behind a brown Honda, when he tried to pass the car by crossing over into the southbound lanes and driving against traffic.
The Saab collided head-on with a gray Chevrolet that was driving in the left southbound lane, police said. The impact caused the Chevrolet to then crash into the Honda.
Menezes and the juvenile who were in the Saab had to be extricated from the vehicle by the Portsmouth Fire Department and were taken to an area hospital with serious injuries, police said. Two other juvenile passengers in the Saab were able to get out of the car and suffered what appeared to be minor injuries, police said.
The drivers of the Chevrolet and the Honda also suffered minor injuries, police said.
Menezes exhibited signs of alcohol impairment at the scene, including a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and multiple empty plastic nip alcohol containers in his vehicle, police said. Officers also said more empty nip containers fell out of his pockets while he was being treated for his injuries.
Menezes was released after posting $5,5500 bail with surety. He is scheduled to be arraigned in District Court on Dec. 14.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
