The Barnstable police officer was standing in a lit crosswalk with flashing lights, wearing a reflective jacket and holding a flashlight, directing concertgoers out of the Cape Cod Melody Tent at about 10 p.m. Sunday when a pickup truck hit him and threw him into the opposite lane. He has a broken leg, a broken hand or wrist, and injuries to his face and head, and he was in surgery Monday. The driver, Robert Brando-Hunt, 43, of Osterville, had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit, according to prosecutors. He was already on probation from the same courthouse for kicking a Barnstable officer in July, after being found drunk and slumped over the wheel of the same truck. He had been pulled over five times this year, most recently on September 5.
He was arraigned Monday in Barnstable District Court, pleaded not guilty, and is in custody. The question the case puts to anyone who reads it is the obvious one: how does a person with that record, on probation for assaulting an officer while drunk in that truck, still have the truck and the keys in September? This piece answers it with the law, which is less satisfying than the question deserves.
The charges
Prosecutors charged operating under the influence of liquor, second offense; operating under the influence causing serious bodily injury; and negligent operation, according to NBC10 Boston and Boston 25. Brando-Hunt pleaded not guilty. NBC10 reported that bail on the new charges was set at $10,000 cash and that he was separately taken into custody on the probation matter; Boston 25 reported that he was ordered held without bail. Both are consistent with a defendant held on a probation detainer regardless of bail on the new case, and that is the likely posture. He is presumed innocent.
The serious-bodily-injury charge is the one that changes the case. G.L. c. 90, § 24L makes it a felony to operate under the influence, “recklessly or negligently so that the lives or safety of the public might be endangered,” and by that operation cause serious bodily injury. The penalty is state prison for not less than two and a half years and not more than ten, or a house of correction term of six months to two and a half years. The statute then does something few Massachusetts statutes do: it forbids the court from reducing the sentence below six months, suspending it, or granting probation, parole or furlough “until such person has served at least six months of such sentence.” A conviction under § 24L means at least six months in custody. There is no plea to a suspended sentence.
Second-offense OUI, under § 24, carries up to two and a half years, a minimum of 30 days if the alternative treatment disposition is not used, and a two-year license loss. It is the lesser charge here.
Why he was driving
Because nothing in the July case took the truck or the license away. Assault and battery on a police officer is not a motor vehicle offense. Probation on that charge came with conditions, including a substance abuse evaluation, which prosecutors say he completed on September 3, with results pending. It did not, as far as has been reported, include a condition that he not drive, not drink, or not possess the vehicle. A probation officer can ask for those conditions and a judge can impose them; they are not automatic, and in a case charged as assault rather than as OUI, they are not usual.
The five traffic stops this year did not take the license either. A stop is not a conviction. Prosecutors described a 2011 OUI charge, multiple probation violations, four restraining orders, and the five stops. The Registry of Motor Vehicles suspends licenses on convictions and on chemical test refusals, not on stops, and not on a criminal record that does not involve driving. The most recent stop, on September 5, for what NBC10 reported as unsafe operation, was nine days before the crash and, on the public record, produced no suspension.
This is the gap the case exposes. A person can be on probation for a drunken assault on a police officer, committed in his truck, and retain every legal right to drive that truck the next day, because the offense of conviction was the assault and the law attaches driving consequences to driving offenses.
What the Commonwealth can do now
Three things, and it has done at least one.
Probation violation. The new arrest is a violation of the July probation. Under G.L. c. 279, § 3 and the Superior and District Court rules, a probationer arrested on a new charge can be held on a detainer pending a violation hearing, at which the standard is a preponderance of the evidence, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt. If the violation is found, the judge can revoke probation and impose the sentence on the July charge. That is the “taken into custody for violating” reference in the reporting, and it is why he is in custody regardless of the $10,000 figure.
Dangerousness. G.L. c. 276, § 58A allows the Commonwealth to move for pretrial detention, for up to 120 days in District Court, on a felony that “by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person of another may result.” OUI causing serious bodily injury qualifies. The statute also names, specifically, a third or subsequent OUI within ten years of the prior conviction, which does not apply here on a second offense. A dangerousness hearing requires the Commonwealth to prove by clear and convincing evidence that no conditions of release will assure the safety of any person or the community. A record of drunken assaults on officers in the same truck is the kind of evidence that motion is built for. Whether the Commonwealth filed it was not reported Monday.
License. The RMV will suspend on the OUI arrest if there was a chemical test failure or refusal, and the court can order him not to drive as a condition of release. Neither takes the truck.
The officer
The officer’s name has not been released. He was treated at the scene by fellow officers and Melody Tent staff, taken to a local hospital, and transferred to Boston. The venue said Brando-Hunt did not attend the concert. Surveillance video shows the impact. Witnesses told police the truck did not appear to slow. Brando-Hunt, who stopped, allegedly told the officer he was driving at a normal speed and tried to brake.
Under Massachusetts law, an officer injured on duty receives full pay without deduction under G.L. c. 41, § 111F for the period of incapacity, and the town’s insurer or the town itself may pursue the driver for those costs. The officer also has a civil claim against Brando-Hunt personally, which is only as good as the defendant’s assets and insurance.
What to watch
The probation violation hearing in Barnstable District Court, which will come first and will likely end with a sentence on the July charge. Whether the Commonwealth moves under § 58A on the new case. Whether the § 24L charge is indicted to Superior Court, where the ten-year maximum applies. And the September 3 evaluation results, which prosecutors mentioned and which will be relevant to every one of those proceedings.
Common questions
What is the penalty for OUI causing serious bodily injury in Massachusetts?
Under G.L. c. 90, § 24L, two and a half to ten years in state prison or six months to two and a half years in a house of correction, with a mandatory minimum of six months that cannot be suspended or reduced.
Why was he still allowed to drive while on probation for assaulting an officer?
Because the July conviction was for assault, not a driving offense. License consequences attach to driving convictions and chemical test refusals. Probation conditions barring driving must be specifically imposed and, on the public record, were not.
Can he be held without bail?
Yes, two ways: on a probation detainer pending a violation hearing, and, if the Commonwealth moves under G.L. c. 276, § 58A, on a finding by clear and convincing evidence that no conditions of release will protect the public.
Do traffic stops count against a license?
No. The Registry suspends on convictions and refusals. Five stops without convictions produce no suspension.
Is the injured officer paid while he recovers?
Yes. G.L. c. 41, § 111F provides full pay without deduction for an officer incapacitated by an injury sustained in the performance of duty.
Arraignment facts and the prosecutor’s account as reported by NBC10 Boston and Boston 25 News, September 14 and 15, 2026; the two outlets differ on whether bail was set at $10,000 or denied, and this article states both. G.L. c. 90, § 24L and c. 276, § 58A read at malegislature.gov. Robert Brando-Hunt is presumed innocent. General information about Massachusetts law, not legal advice.