The son of the state’s last governor blew nearly twice the legal limit after state police arrested him and administered a breath test late Saturday evening, according to court records.
Andrew “AJ” Baker, the 29-year-old son of former Gov. Charlie Baker, was in Peabody District Court Monday morning to answer an Operating Under the Influence charge stemming from that evening, when police say they found Baker driving erratically on Route 95 and stopped him.
Baker, dressed in a well tailored blue suit, did not speak during court while his attorney pleaded not guilty on his behalf or when walking out of the building after quietly accepting the stipulation for his release that he not operate a vehicle without a valid license.
“Mr. Baker you are being released on personal recognizance. You are ordered not to drive without a valid license. If you violate any law of the commonwealth or violate the terms of the release your personal recognizance may be revoked and you can be held for up to 90-days without bail,” a court clerk told the son of 78th Governor of Massachusetts.
According to the police report filed by a responding Mass State Trooper, Baker told them he had been golfing before they encountered him on Saturday.
“During my initial contact I could smell the odor of alcoholic beverage coming from his breath, his eyes were also glassy, bloodshot and his speech was a bit slurred,” Trooper Kyle Holmes wrote. “I then asked Baker if he had anything to drink and he stated that he did.”
The former governor’s son was asked to perform field sobriety tests in the breakdown lane of I-95. Baker failed all three standard tests, police say.
Officers placed him under arrest, towed his car and booked him “in the usual manner, in accordance with policy and procedure” before administering a breath test.
According to police, Baker twice blew a 0.152, almost double the legal blood alcohol limit of 0.08. A bail clerk was notified and he was released.
Following his arraignment on Monday Baker was scheduled to appear for a pre-trial conference on June 14.
This isn’t the first time that the former governor’s son was in the spotlight for an alleged crime.
Andrew in 2018, while his father was governor, was accused of sexual assault on a JetBlue flight from D.C. to Boston Logan International Airport. He was accused of inappropriately touching a 29-year-old woman who was sitting next to him on the plane. That case was never prosecuted.