Crime

Former Boston detective pleads not guilty to drunk driving after initially dodging charges

Greg Walsh is accused of drunkenly backing a city-owned pickup truck into a Tesla in East Boston last year.

David L Ryan/The Boston Globe, File

December 4, 2025

3 minutes to read

One year after he dodged a drunk driving charge for allegedly crashing a city-owned truck, a former Boston police detective has been indicted on four counts in connection with the East Boston collision.

Greg Walsh, 51, pleaded not guilty Thursday to operating under the influence of liquor, driving negligently, leaving the scene of a collision with property damage, and carrying a loaded firearm while intoxicated.

The South Boston resident was released on personal recognizance with orders to stay away from and have no contact with witnesses.

“In November of 2024, Mr. Walsh went to court in East Boston and successfully defended himself against these allegations,” his attorney, Greg Henning, said in a statement. “Now, more than a year later, the government has chosen to use the limited resources of the grand jury to indict a retiree, and a veteran of the military, on four misdemeanor offenses.”

He continued: “The government didn’t like the outcome the first time around, so they’ve decided to try for a second bite at the apple. This should worry every citizen of the Commonwealth.”

Prosecutors say Walsh was driving a city-owned pickup truck several hours after his shift when he allegedly backed into an occupied Tesla on Sumner Street around 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 22, 2024. After damaging the Tesla’s hood, Walsh allegedly tried to drive away, but the Tesla driver managed to block him in.

At some point, according to prosecutors, Walsh tried using paper towels and a piece of clothing to cover the truck’s license plates. During the ensuing standoff, the Tesla driver purportedly urged Walsh to park so they could talk and exchange papers.

“Walsh briefly exited the truck and, when told that he had smashed into the car, said, ‘I know that, it’s obvious,’” prosecutors wrote in a statement of facts filed in court. “He returned to the truck and at one point called the Tesla occupants ‘a**holes.’”

The Tesla driver called 911, and a Boston police officer arrived in a marked cruiser. Prosecutors allege Walsh made a break for it, running until he reached a dead end on a nearby street.

“The Tesla passenger pointed out Walsh’s direction of flight to the officer, who caught up to Walsh in time to see him vault a gate into an alley,” prosecutors wrote. “As he did so the gate swung open and Walsh fell face down in the alley.”

Walsh “stood up with difficulty,” according to the court document, and was allegedly slurring his words and unsteady on his feet.

“Walsh said that he left the crash scene because the Tesla occupants were ‘very aggressive … I thought they were gonna beat me up,’ even though he was an armed detective in a large vehicle and the civilians made no threats or belligerent movements toward him,” prosecutors wrote.

The officer called for a supervisor, who allegedly noted a slight odor of alcohol emanating from Walsh. The sergeant conferred with a lieutenant over the phone, and they decided not to attempt field sobriety tests or arrest Walsh. Instead, according to prosecutors, they directed the officer to drive Walsh home.

After reviewing the officer’s body-worn camera footage later that day, the sergeant issued Walsh a citation for operating under the influence and leaving the scene of a collision. However, the clerk-magistrate at the Boston Municipal Court’s East Boston Division declined to issue a complaint and suggested Boston police investigate the incident as an internal affairs matter.

By then, prosecutors noted, Walsh had paid the Tesla owner $12,000 for the damage. WCVB was first to report on the clerk’s decision not to issue a complaint.

It was not immediately clear when Walsh parted ways with the Boston Police Department; in November 2024, a spokesperson told Boston.com Walsh was on administrative duty amid an active internal probe.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and the Boston Police Department’s Anti-Corruption Division later presented the matter to a grand jury, which issued an indictment after considering “evidence the clerk magistrate never received, including testimony from the Tesla occupants and video from the officer’s body camera and the Tesla passenger,” prosecutors noted.

Walsh is due back in court Jan. 15.