*** WATCH *** DRIVER STRANDED IN SQUAW ISLAND MARSH WAS DRUNK...

“The rising tide lifts all the boats.”
~ John F. Kennedy

HYANNIS PORT – [HN NOTES & MULLINGS ON THE MATTER] – Whenever anyone crashes into water or wetlands anywhere in the vicinity of the Kennedy Compound, it’s HN’s responsibility to fire up the cameras and spring into action. Because one never knows who’s crashing into what, and why…

It was the summer of 1988, when another summer cop and I responded to a single vehicle crash into a chain-link fence on Craigville Beach Road, the one that used to border the parking area at Craigville Beach. It was Joan Kennedy, ex-wife of Sen. Edward Kennedy, and we arrested her for drunk driving. It instantly became a media frenzy. CNN and all the others were all over the story. My partner had taken the report. (Poor him.) I had the following day off and a date with my crazy, but beautiful girlfriend at the time. And I remember having more than enough drama in my life at that particular time. So, when a superior officer ordered me not to speak with the press or anyone else about the matter, he didn’t have to tell me twice. I stocked up on cold beer, detective novels… and ordered all my favorite foods. Shut off the telephone ringer and closed out the entire world. I had a very good excuse after all…

All I remember from that particular incident was that Ms. Kennedy was a very attractive and well-mannered lady. And I remember putting the cruiser’s FM radio on WQRC, a local easy-listening station I felt she’d enjoy under the circumstances, for our slow, airconditioned roll back to the booking area inside Barnstable Police Headquarters. Ms. Kennedy was very pleasant, and I remember wishing her well.

But, once again, I digress. And I can’t help it. Such memories often flood my brain whenever there’s a crash or weird incident anywhere near the Kennedy Compound. Mostly sad memories, but some good ones too. [The stream of childhood & young adult memories are rising as I type, much like this morning’s tide… but I’ll stop here.]

Shortly after midnight, early this morning, Barnstable Police patrol officers were called to the end of Island Ave on the private spit of land called “Squaw Island.” Upon arrival, and as you will see in the following HN Video, officers found a vehicle stuck about 40 feet out into a marshy area at the end of Island Ave. I know that area pretty well. It’s just footsteps away from Brambletyde, the “Summer White House” of President John F. Kennedy during his times away from Washington, in the early 1960s. And some of the marshy areas out there can be like quicksand.

As you will hear in the following HN Video, police arrested a 31-year-old Mashpee man for being the alleged drunken driver of the vehicle. (The man’s name has not been officially released at the time of this report.) He was said to have been the only person with the vehicle when police arrived. And he was charged with Operating Under the Influence of Alcohol. It is believed he may have been wandering around lost, when he made a very wrong turn…

It took two tow trucks to remove the 2015 grey Chevy Equinox from the muck.

The following HN Video highlights the scene from a distance because security was eyeballing me like a hawk. As for Ms. Kennedy, I hope she’s happy and well, wherever she is…

[HN VIDEO – PRESS PLAY]