The Brockton police chief suspended a sergeant without pay for three days because of his role in a late-night crash after leaving a nearby bar at closing time.
That’s according to an internal affairs investigation, which revealed Sgt. Stanley David was drinking on the night in May 2023 when he collided with a family’s vehicle as they sat at a red light.
The incident was first reported by the NBC10 Boston Investigators, who spoke to the couple about the frightening ordeal with their baby boy sitting in the backseat.
Even though the department’s internal investigation determined there was not enough evidence to prove David was intoxicated behind the wheel, Chief Brenda Perez concluded the findings warranted a three-day unpaid suspension for conduct unbecoming of an officer.
See the full internal affairs report at the bottom of this article.
“This decision is based on substantial evidence that underscores both poor judgment on your part and the subsequent damage to the reputation of the Brockton Police Department,” Perez wrote in a letter to David.
The report obtained by the NBC10 Boston Investigators includes new video from surveillance cameras at Brack’s Grille and Tap in Brockton.
Investigations
According to the documents, David arrived at the establishment after consuming “3-4 vodka tonics” at an earlier social event with the Brockton Police Relief Association.
The video shows David walking “awkwardly” through the bar’s front doors, having at least one beverage, commiserating with other patrons, and chatting with a bartender.
David left the establishment at closing time about 1 a.m. Moments later, he crashed into another vehicle as it stopped at a red light on Belmont Street.
Damian Dorsey and Jessica Nash were in the other car with their 5-month-old baby boy Beckham sitting in the backseat.
“It was literally like a bomb had gone off in our car,” Dorsey told us about the impact that pushed their vehicle 300 feet through the intersection. “The headrests came out of the seats. To get rear-ended like that still gives me chills.”
Before first responders took the family to the hospital, Dorsey said witnesses at the scene reported the driver of the other vehicle was intoxicated. In a 911 call recording from the incident, you can hear the couple inquiring about those details.
“Are they drunk because my baby is in the car!” Nash screamed in the recording.
When the couple later obtained a copy of the police report, it said no witnesses provided a statement. They also noticed that police did not conduct a field sobriety test.
That’s when they learned the other driver was an off-duty Brockton police sergeant.
“I was angry,” Dorsey told NBC10 Boston when he learned that detail. “Had this been any other citizen, they would’ve been sobriety tested.”
The couple has retained an attorney and said they were advised to make no further public comments about the incident.
Investigators interviewed 11 police officers about the incident, along with a witness who took several videos at the crash scene, and a bartender at Brack’s.
Co-workers at the social event recalled seeing David with a drink in his hand, but not showing any signs of intoxication. Officers who responded to the crash scene also told investigators they did not observe probable cause to conduct a field sobriety test.
Witness cell phone videos briefly show David standing outside his vehicle with the driver’s side door open.
A lieutenant who responded to the scene after learning the crash involved a Brockton police officer eventually gave David a ride home.
David’s story changed, according to the report. On scene that night, he told other officers he “may have dozed off” behind the wheel. He later reported being distracted by his vehicle’s audio screen before the collision.
Captain Steven Williamson reviewed the internal affairs case, which took more than a year to complete, on two different occasions and determined there was insufficient evidence to sustain an allegation that David was driving while drunk.
However, the police chief concluded the details amounted to “conduct unbecoming of an officer,” while noting David’s years of service and absence of previous disciplinary history. The sergeant served his three-day unpaid suspension earlier this month.
David has not responded to inquiries from NBC10 Boston about the crash. His union attorney, Alan Shapiro, declined to comment.
The Civil Service list for Brockton police shows David is next in line for a promotion to lieutenant.
“The narrative that a cover-up may have occurred has fostered a climate of suspicion and damaged public trust—an essential component of effective policing,” Perez wrote to David in the report. “Your actions have not only reflected poorly on you as an individual but also cast a shadow over the integrity of the entire department.”
