Trenton sued over former Public Works employee’s drunken crash

TRENTON >> A Public Works employee was apparently zonked out of his mind when he steamrolled into a telephone pole and another vehicle while behind the wheel of a city-owned truck, according to police and a recently filed lawsuit.

The now-former worker, Daymar D. Leonard, was so drunk that an officer who responded to the alcohol-fueled crash the morning of Oct. 21, 2016 had to “hold up” Leonard once he was ordered out of the vehicle after plowing through a telephone pole, TPD spokesman Lt. Darren Zappley said.

A lawsuit brought against Leonard and the city says that at some point Leonard also collided with another vehicle carrying passenger Marian Contreras-Bassat, who is the plaintiff in the case.

The responding officer indicated that Leonard reeked of alcohol, so there was little use for confirmatory tests.

Breath tests back at police headquarters indicated Leonard’s blood alcohol level was well over the state’s legal limit of .08, the police spokesman said.

“He was in no condition to probably participate in those field sobriety tests,” Zappley said.

Leonard was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and reckless and careless driving and not wearing a seat belt, Zappley said.

A city spokesman said Leonard was cut loose after the alleged drunken saunter but couldn’t immediately provide additional details about Leonard’s employment with the city.

Bassat claims she suffered “severe” and “disabling” injuries as a result of the crash.

But police had no record of those details as Zappley said the officer’s report didn’t indicate there were any victims outside of a destroyed telephone pole.

Bassat’s attorney, who didn’t return a phone call requesting comment, contends in the lawsuit that a slurry and stumbling Leonard shouldn’t have been driving in the first place that day as his driver’s license was suspended.

However, it appears Leonard, who was operating a Ford F-150 pickup truck registered to the city, may have been licensed at the time of the crash because Zappley said the officer didn’t cite the ex-public works employee for driving while suspended.

The Trentonian has filed a public records request for Leonard’s driving history but has yet to receive a response from the state Motor Vehicle Commission.

Bassat’s lawsuit says the city is on the hook for Leonard’s alleged drunken buffoonery because he was “entrusted” with operating the city-owned vehicle and his conduct had a “high degree of probability of harm and reckless indifference to consequences.”

The city denied the allegations in its Oct. 31 answer to the pleadings.

But from the police’s perspective, Leonard’s DUI arrest was an open-and-shut case once an officer observed Leonard crashed out behind the wheel inside the cityowned truck, in the middle of the road, around 11 a.m.

Leonard was slumped over the wheel asleep after he smashed into the telephone pole. He had backed up the truck and “conked out,” Zappley said.

The responding officer indicated that he ordered Leonard out of the truck after smelling alcohol “emanating” from the inside, Zappley said.

A search of the car didn’t turn up any open bottles, the police spokesman said.

But Leonard was obviously impaired as he stumbled out of the truck and had a “hard time keeping his balance,” the police spokesman said.

When the cop ran the plates, the vehicle came back as being registered to the city of Trenton, Zappley confirmed.

Leonard’s DUI screw-up carried stiff personal and legal ramifications.

Civil Service Commission minutes from June 2017 meeting showed he was set for a removal hearing. The outcome of that hearing wasn’t immediately clear, but a city spokesman told The Trentonian that Leonard was fired.

The outcome of Leonard’s DUI case was also unclear as municipal court officials would only confirm that he was found guilty but wouldn’t offer additional details about the case.

Leonard couldn’t be reached for comment at a known listing.