Norton Officer Arrested On OUI Charge; Placed On Leave: Police

NORTON, MA — A Norton police officer was arrested on multiple charges and has been placed on administrative leave following a car accident that hospitalized a woman.

Officer Joshua Archer, 31, of Norton was charged with operating under the influence of alcohol, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injury, Norton police said.

At around 1 a.m. Saturday, Norton police officers responded to the intersection of West Main Street and Taunton Avenue in the town's center for a report of a motor vehicle crash.

Responding officers were told that one of the vehicles involved, a black Dodge Durango, had left. The driver of the other vehicle involved, a red Nissan Maxima, told police that she spoke with the Durango's operator but that he then fled the scene.

The operator of the Nissan was transported to Morton Hospital in Taunton with non-life-threatening injuries.

When officers located the Durango on Taunton Avenue, they found it being operated by Archer, who was not injured in the crash.

"Officers determined that the Durango was turning right onto Taunton Avenue, from West Main Street, and sideswiped the Nissan while it was on Taunton Avenue stopped at the traffic light," Norton police said.

Archer, a patrol officer who has been with the Norton Police Department for eight years, was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, police said.

He will be arraigned at Attleboro District Court.