QUINCY — State Representative David H. A. LeBoeuf, a two-term Worcester Democrat, was arrested late Tuesday on drunken driving charges, according to State Police, who found his car roughly 90 minutes after House lawmakers had wrapped voting for the day.
State Police said in a report filed in Quincy District Court that LeBoeuf’s blood alcohol level was tested twice and registered at 0.329 and 0.317, roughly four times the legal limit of 0.08. LeBoeuf, 32, was released on personal recognizance following his arraignment Wednesday on charges of operation under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and a marked lanes violation.
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Shortly after noon Wednesday, he voted on an amendment to the House’s state budget proposal, which lawmakers have been debating since Monday. It was unclear if LeBoeuf voted from within the chamber or remotely. He did not cast a vote in subsequent roll calls Wednesday.
LeBoeuf did not respond to requests for comment. His attorney, Joseph Higgins, declined to comment.
“Driving under the influence is a dangerous and often deadly mistake and I am deeply relieved that no one was injured in this instance,” House Speaker Ronald Mariano said in a statement. “I have been assured by Representative LeBoeuf that he will be seeking help and I will support him on his path to recovery.”
Lawmakers had held their final roll call vote at the State House just before 9 p.m. Tuesday. State Police said they had received multiple calls shortly before 10:30 p.m. of a black SUV traveling erratically on the southbound side of Route 93 before the vehicle pulled off onto the Burgin Parkway ramp with a flat tire.
It’s unclear from where LeBoeuf was traveling when troopers said they found his 2014 black Ford Escape smoking and with a missing tire on Burgin Parkway in Quincy.
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LeBoeuf told a trooper he “was coming from Massachusetts,” heading home, and that he had nothing to drink earlier in the evening, according to a police report. When asked where he believed he was, LeBoeuf told a trooper “Newton,” according to police. Newton is about 17 miles away from Quincy.
Troopers said LeBoeuf’s speech was slurred and that there was a “smell” of alcohol when he opened his car window. Police said troopers ultimately removed LeBoeuf from his SUV and that he stumbled and swayed during field sobriety tests.
During an inventory of his car, police said they found nine empty nip bottles of Dr. McGillicuddy’s and two cans of wine in the cupholders — one empty and the other half full, according to the report.
LeBoeuf is due back in court in June. LeBoeuf, a Harvard and Clark University grad who was first elected to his seat in 2018, serves on four legislative committees. He works as a small business “education advisor,” according to his official legislative profile.
Asked at an unrelated news conference whether LeBoeuf should continue to serve in light of his arrest, Governor Charlie Baker said decisions about elected officials “are usually made by voters, as it should be.” LeBoeuf said in February he planned to seek reelection to his House seat.
“I certainly think as a general rule, driving while intoxicated — on drugs, or you’re drunk, or otherwise — is irresponsible and dangerous and not something anybody should do,” Baker said. “There are plenty of alternatives to driving that are available.”
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Jim Lyons, the chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, said the public “has a right to know” who LeBoeuf was with “immediately after budget deliberations and what kind of culture is apparent on Beacon Hill.”
“When Beacon Hill Democrats aren’t spending our tax dollars like drunken sailors, they’re behaving like drunken sailors,” Lyons said.
It’s unclear what action, if any, the House could take. In 2019, the state Senate stripped a Brockton Democrat, Michael D. Brady, of his chairmanship following his arrest on drunken driving charges, saying he violated a rule barring senators from using “improper means to influence an agency, board, authority, commission of the Commonwealth.”
But in the case of Brady, he at one point told an officer that “he was a state senator,” according to a police report, and Brady acknowledged handing the officer a State House identification card. Brady reached a plea deal with prosecutors in which he admitted they had enough evidence to convict him at trial but will avoid a conviction.
There is no indication in the police report about LeBoeuf’s arrest that he mentioned his position as a state legislator to police.
Emma Platoff of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Matt Stout can be reached at matt.stout@globe.com. Follow him @mattpstout.