NAHANT, Mass. — A North Shore man is facing a slew of criminal charges after police say he drunkenly drove onto a beach and into the ocean, nearly crashing into pedestrians last week.
Angel Montas, 21, of Lynn, was arraigned Friday in Lynn District Court on charges including operating under the influence of liquor, assault with a dangerous weapon on a person over the age of 60, assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, operating a motor vehicle with an obstructed window, marked lanes violation, no inspection sticker, and number plate violation, according to Nahant Police Chief Timothy Furlong.
In a news release on Monday, Furlong said officers responded to the Nahant Beach Reservation just before 2 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 26, after the department received a report of a vehicle “doing doughnuts” on Long Beach.
A preliminary investigation indicated that the driver, later identified as Montas, made multiple trips onto the beach, speeding through the sand in the vicinity of beachgoers, according to Furlong.
A video shared with Boston 25 News showed a dark-colored Infiniti sedan leaving tire tracks in the sand and veering off into shallow water as the beachgoers looked on with concern.
Montas was arrested after officers investigated at the scene, according to Furlong.
No pedestrians were injured during the incident.
“It was totally dangerous, I wasn’t nervous, I was cautious, I was watching out for the other people, I knew what my escape route was, was making sure he wasn’t getting near anybody else,” said Frank Mushrush.
Mushrush says that the driver got pretty close to him and there were about 20 people on the beach that day.
“There were people down there walking their dogs, their kids and actually there were surfers out there surfing and you know he was just being a fool on the beach,” said Mushrush.
He says the driver left and came back to do this multiple times, and at one point he almost drove right into the water.
“How do you drive on the beach doing donuts, revving the heck out of your engine, missing gears and almost driving into the ocean?” said Mushrush. “If the wave had come a little stronger he would have been stuck.”
Now there’s a new barrier there to prevent any cars from driving onto the beach.
Montas is due back in court on Jan. 23, 2025, for a pre-trial hearing.
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