Driver with 4 DUIs pleads not guilty

WESTBORO  —  A Worcester woman accused of rear-ending the vehicle driven by the head of the Massachusetts State Police has a history of drinking and driving, having been convicted four

times and having served two stints in jail.

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' Donna M. Sclamo, 51, of 1 Burton St., Worcester, also has had a suspended or revoked driver's license for more than a decade. In her arrest Monday in Shrewsbury, Mrs. Sclamo allegedly told investigators she took two Percocets and drank half a beer before the accident, according to court records.

Mrs. Sclamo is accused of driving her car into the back of a sport utility vehicle driven by Col. Marian J. McGovern of Millbury, superintendent of the state police. The accident occurred about 11:30 a.m. Monday on Route 20 eastbound near Grafton Street in Shrewsbury.

"It was appalling," Col. McGovern said yesterday at state police headquarters in Framingham, regarding Mrs. Sclamo's four previous drunken-driving convictions. "It was absolutely appalling, the fact that this woman hasn't had a license for years."

Mrs. Sclamo, who was handcuffed after her arraignment yesterday in Westboro District Court, was charged with drunken driving, driving with a suspended license, speeding and a highway traffic violation. She was held on $25,000 cash bail.

According to her driving record from the Registry of Motor Vehicles, Mrs. Sclamo was last convicted of drinking and driving 12 years ago. In that 1998 case, her license was revoked for eight years, and she was labeled a habitual traffic offender. Court records indicate she was sentenced to 2 years in the House of Correction.

She was eligible to get a driver's license in 2007, but never paid the reinstatement fee or completed driver education class and some paperwork, her driving record indicated.

Records show Mrs. Sclamo's license was first revoked in April 1997, after her third drunken-driving conviction. It was reinstated in early November 1998. She had her license for a matter of days when she was arrested on her fourth drunken-driving charge.

According to her driving record, her license had previously been suspended in 1996, following her third drunk driving conviction. She was sentenced to 19 months in the House of Correction. She was later arrested for driving with a suspended license, and spent another 60 days in jail.

She was also convicted of drunken-driving offenses in 1995 and 1993, according to her driving and court records.

Col. McGovern spoke yesterday about state police Sgt. Doug Weddleton, who died after being struck by an allegedly drunken driver while working a construction detail on Interstate 95 in Mansfield.

She felt his death deeply, she said, and has "made it my crusade that we're going to make these roads safer than they've ever been before."

Col. McGovern's Ford Explorer sustained minor dents and scrapes on the bumper and tailgate.

"There's no doubt in my mind that I'm feeling as good as I feel today because I was in a very strong vehicle," Col. McGovern said, adding that if a smaller car were struck the situation might be different.

Before her arraignment, while smoking a cigarette outside the courthouse, Mrs. Sclamo refused to answer questions about the accident. She said she was "well aware of what happened."

Mrs. Sclamo's lawyer, David L. Cataldo, declined to talk to reporters after the arraignment.

In court, Mr. Cataldo said his client told police about her arthritis and knee injury. Reports show she told the trooper about the injuries before she took field sobriety tests. He called the facts in the report "alleged facts," and said his client did not have slurred speech. He added that the last drunken-driving charge against his client was 12 years ago.

Meanwhile, Stephen Sclamo acknowledged his wife's drunken-driving history and said she has not sought help. Yesterday, he was trying to find a way to raise the cash to pay her bail.

According to court records, Trooper Mark D. Robbins spoke with Mrs. Sclamo at the scene of the accident. When he arrived, he found her inside her Ford 500 sedan, sobbing, while Col. McGovern was waiting outside her unmarked state police Ford Explorer, the trooper wrote.

When Trooper Robbins asked where Mrs. Sclamo was coming from, she continually responded "back there," he wrote in an application for criminal complaint, on file in court.

"She said the hotel was not ready for her and she was having breakfast; she was crying and sobbing," according to the trooper. "I was able to smell a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her breath and I asked her if she had been drinking."

Mrs. Sclamo allegedly responded she has arthritis and was drinking a beer, but could only drink half because she could not lift the glass. The trooper believed she was at a bar in Worcester on Route 20.

Not-guilty pleas were entered. Mrs. Sclamo is to return to court Nov. 1.

Aaron Nicodemus of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this report.

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