By Jill Harmacinski
Staff Writer
—
LAWRENCE — Police say Newburyport lawyer Richard Heartquist misled them when he claimed he wasn't behind the wheel of his wife's truck when he struck and injured another motorist on Dec. 17.
Heartquist, 42, husband of Newburyport City Councilor Allison Heartquist, now faces charges of obstructing justice and leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in personal injury. He turned himself into police yesterday and was released on personal recognizance.
Heartquist, of 22 Reservation Terrace, Newburyport, will be arraigned this morning in Lawrence District Court on the charges, police said.
According to police, Heartquist, who has a law practice in North Andover, was driving a white, 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche when it struck a 1985 Buick sedan at 354 Merrimack St. in Lawrence.
"Our investigation puts him behind the wheel," police Chief John Romero said yesterday, noting there were witnesses to the accident.
The Buick's driver, Michael Baglieri, 35, of Methuen suffered head and leg injuries in the 11:30 p.m. crash.
Detectives yesterday sought an arrest warrant for Heartquist, who was convicted of drunken driving in Newburyport in 2005. His Massachusetts driver's license expired in July, according to police reports.
Heartquist turned himself in at the Lawrence police station at 3:30 p.m.
The Avalanche was impounded after the accident and a search warrant executed last Monday. Romero said items were seized from it, and detectives await the results of forensic tests.
In an interview with police the day after the accident, Richard Heartquist told detectives he was not driving the Avalanche when it crashed, but instead was with a woman he met at the bar in Salvatore's restaurant adjacent to the crash site.
Heartquist told detectives Thomas Burke and William Colantuoni that he left his Sutton Street law office at 10 p.m. the night of the accident and went to Salvatore's, "where he had a couple of beers."
While at the bar, Heartquist said he met a woman named Kathy, describing the encounter as a "random hookup." Heartquist told police he and Kathy left the bar together. He left the Avalanche running with the keys in it and then went to Kathy's vehicle, which he described as a small SUV, similar to a Toyota Rav4. Kathy drove to the "other end of the parking lot where they spent about an hour together," Heartquist told the detectives.
Then, the two "ended up taking off (in her car) to go get something to eat," Heartquist told police. But when they drove to his nearby law office, Heartquist "decided to break off the encounter with the girl and call his brother for a ride," according to the police report.
Burke asked for Heartquist's brother's name and telephone number so that police could corroborate his story. But "Heartquist stated that he didn't want to get his brother involved and no longer wanted to speak with us," according to the report.
Detectives noted that Heartquist had a large bruise on his right hand and "abrasion above his left eye, which was shaded by the visor of his baseball cap." However, detectives were unable to question him about the injuries because he abruptly ended the interview, according to the report.
Before detectives left his home, Heartquist asked if he needed to report the Avalanche stolen "since the car was already recovered." Burke told Heartquist if his car had in fact been stolen, he would have to file a stolen vehicle report. To date, Heartquist has not filed such a report.
When called immediately after the crash, Allison Heartquist, who works full time as executive assistant to Amesbury Mayor Thatcher Kezer, told police her husband took her truck to a Christmas party that night. She said her husband had called her earlier in the evening and said "he'd be getting a ride home," according to a police report.
Allison Heartquist could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Baglieri, the driver of the Buick, told police the Avalanche pulled out of the Riverwalk parking lot on Merrimack Street and crashed into him. The driver then fled toward the Merrimack River, prompting an intense, but unsuccessful, search of the area.
Baglieri said he blacked out upon impact. Police found him bleeding from his forehead and complaining of pain. A foreman for a tree service, Baglieri runs a bucket truck on a daily basis. He said the injuries he suffered in the accident put him out of work.
