The Lowell Sun
LOWELL, Mass. — A Lowell firefighter accused of driving a city fire truck with a suspended driver’s license has had the charges against him dismissed upon the payment of $200 in court costs.
Donald Goyette, who was initially arrested on suspicion of drunken driving on Storrow Drive in Boston last October, had already been found not guilty in Boston Municipal Court on that charge, and found not responsible for a marked-lanes violation.
In Lowell District Court Wednesday, Goyette, 42, of 86 Corbett St., Lowell, agreed to pay the court costs in exchange for two counts of operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license being dismissed.
Those charges were filed after the city learned that Goyette drove a fire truck to two medical calls in the city on Dec. 9, 2011, after his license had been suspended for 180 days after he refused to take a Breathalyzer test when he was stopped on Oct. 20, 2011, by state police in Boston on suspicion of driving drunk. A police report said Goyette’s eyes were “red and glassy” and that he said he had had “a couple beers” at a Bruins game.
Goyette then drove a fire truck for six months without a license.
He was placed on unpaid administrative leave in July.
The two calls that Goyette was cited for were both medical in nature -- one to a location on Merrimack Street, the other to Gage Street. Goyette was stationed at the Central Fire Station.
Goyette’s present job status wasn’t immediately clear on Thursday.
Fire Chief Edward Pitta didn’t return a call to his home Thursday night, and Goyette could not be reached for comment. Pitta has previously declined to comment on personnel matters. A dispatcher answering at the central fire station Thursday evening said Goyette was not working.
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