An Edgartown man has been charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol after allegedly crashing a truck into two buildings and a parked vehicle on Circuit avenue Saturday.

Officials said there were no reported injuries.

Emma Kilbride

Officials said there were no reported injuries.

Emma Kilbride

Theodore Bennett, 43, was arraigned in Edgartown District Court Monday morning, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of operating a vehicle under the influence, leaving the scene of a property damage accident, negligently operating a motor vehicle and improperly operating a motor vehicle. 

Police allege he was driving a gray Toyota Tacoma northbound on the street around 7:15 p.m. Saturday when he hit 145 Circuit avenue. He then proceeded on to hit a parked car and Third World Trading Co., a clothing and gift store at 52 Circuit avenue.

According to the police report from the incident, Mr. Bennett was found in the truck’s driver’s seat with glassy eyes and an odor of alcohol. He was slurring his speech, was unwilling to answer questions about where he came from and failed sobriety testing, the police wrote. He also allegedly claimed he had not been drinking and refused a breathalyzer test, at which point authorities seized his driver’s license.

“Bennett did not seem to grasp the severity of the situation,” the report reads.

Mr. Bennett was allegedly struggling to calm himself down and told officers he suffers from PTSD.

Mr. Bennett posted $1,000 bail and agreed at his arraignment to submit to alcohol testing, not consume alcohol and abstain from operating a motor vehicle.

Oak Bluffs police chief Jonathan Searle confirmed to the Gazette soon after the incident that there were no reported injuries. According to police, Mr. Bennett was the sole occupant of the vehicle and refused medical attention.

Third World Trading Co. was heavily damaged in the crash. Much of the shop’s facade was destroyed when the truck ran into it, including the front steps, front wall, windows and merchandise. The roof also appeared to have incurred damage.

The front stairway and lawn at 145 Circuit avenue were damaged in the first collision, according to the police report.

The police report also says that a woman was showering upstairs at Third World when the truck collided with the building, causing her to hit her head.

Video footage from a nearby webcam shows the truck headed in the wrong direction up the one-way street before running into the store.

In 2017, Mr. Bennett was charged with operating under the influence of drugs, but those charges were dismissed.

Mr. Bennett’s pretrial hearing in the case is scheduled for Jan. 15.

Editor's note: this article has been updated with information from Mr. Bennett's arraignment.