Driver’s Call to Police Leads to Drunk Driving Arrest with Toddler in Back Seat

Hingham police arrested a driver for operating under the influence (second offense) and child endangerment after another motorist called police about an erratic driver Sunday night. 

Forty-year-old James E. Norton was arrested and charged with operating under the influence, child endangerment while operating under the influence, operating to endanger, operating after a license suspension and marked lanes violation. He had a 3-year-old child sleeping in a car seat in the back seat.

Norton’s arrest came after another driver called police just before 8 p.m. Sunday night to report a car traveling north on Main Street (Rte. 228) was swerving out of its lane and crossing over the center yellow lines by several feet, according to Hingham Police. 

The caller, a Hingham resident, stayed on the phone with police while giving updated locations. Officer Robert Achille got behind the car and also saw it cross the center lines. The vehicle was stopped on East Street (Rte. 228) by Joy Lane.

The officer saw a child, Norton's son, asleep in a car seat in the back seat when he approached the vehicle. Norton told the officer he didn’t have a driver’s license and was coming from a St. Patrick’s Day parade. He admitted he had been drinking. He was arrested after failing field sobriety tests.

Norton's son remained asleep and officers were able to reach his mother. Officers stayed with the boy until she arrived. Inside the car officers found six empty beer cans, as well as seven full beer cans within reach of the driver’s seat.

Norton’s prior O.U.I was in Georgia in 1995 and his Massachusetts drivers license has been suspended indefinitely since 2008 due to a payment default.