By Tiffany Williams –
Westborough Police Chief Todd Minardi was found asleep in an unmarked police SUV outside a Shrewsbury liquor store with two bottles of vodka on the passenger seat, according to a police report provided to NewsTalk New England by a source in the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office. Minardi was taken to the hospital and issued a $505 citation for an open container of alcohol.
The incident prompted Westborough officials to place Minardi on administrative leave and begin taking steps to retain an outside investigator. Deputy Police Chief Steve Tompkins has assumed the department’s day-to-day operations.
Shrewsbury dispatch records place the call at approximately 12:19 p.m. Friday, October 23, identifying it as a well-being check at 507 Boston Turnpike. The dispatcher’s remarks describe a man sleeping in a vehicle since the previous day and indicate that he was transported to UMass while the vehicle remained in the parking lot.
According to the lieutenant’s report, Minardi was wearing street clothes and sitting in his unmarked Ford Explorer. The vehicle’s keys were wedged between the cup holder and center console, and two vodka bottles were visible on the passenger seat.
“One appeared empty and was sticking out of a black plastic bag and the other did not have the cap on and was lying on the seat and appeared to be mostly empty,” the lieutenant’s report states. The report describes Minardi’s eyes as “red, bloodshot and glassy.”
The lieutenant also documented slurred speech and an odor of alcohol. Minardi was apologetic to the officers and medics involved in the response before being placed in an ambulance.
As Minardi was preparing to be transported to UMass Memorial Hospital, his wife called and told a medic that he had been missing for two days, according to the report. She also told the medic that he had not been eating and had been drinking only vodka.
Investigators reviewed surveillance footage from the liquor store and another nearby business to establish the vehicle’s movements. According to the report, footage showed Minardi entering the liquor store Wednesday at 8:19 a.m., wearing the same clothes he had on when officers found him Friday.
During that Wednesday visit, Minardi purchased a bottle of vodka and a lottery ticket with cash, the report states. He returned to the store Thursday at 9:05 a.m. and used a credit card to purchase another bottle of vodka.
Surveillance from the nearby business showed the cruiser entering the parking lot Wednesday morning and leaving after the purchase. It returned Thursday morning and remained there until police responded Friday, according to the report; investigators determined that Minardi did not drive the cruiser after that Thursday arrival.
A witness also reported seeing the vehicle in the lot through Thursday and Friday. The documented enforcement action was the $505 open-container citation.
Westborough officials said the town would not comment further because the matter involves personnel. Minardi became interim chief in June 2023 after serving as deputy chief and was sworn in as chief in November 2023.