Former head of Big Dig arrested for drunk driving

HAVERHILL, Mass. -- The former chief of the "Big Dig" was arrested in Haverhill Saturday morning for allegedly drunken driving.

According to police, 52-year-old Matthew Amorello slammed into two parked cars on River Street around 2:00 a.m.

Witnesses said Amorello’s SUV crossed the double yellow line and hit the two parked cars on the other side of the street, pushing one of them up onto the curb.

“And I’m like, let me go see what that is, and by the time I came out, my car had been smashed,” said Ricardo Martinez, whose car had been damaged.

A tire came off of Amorello’s SUV. According to neighbors, he continued to drive down the street, shooting sparks the entire way as he drove on only three tires.

“He had no wheels, so you could see the sparks from the driver’s side front wheel,” said Lenore Santos, whose car had been damaged.

Police found Amorello parked in a car dealership parking lot down the road.

"Four people, four officers to get him out of the truck; he didn't react," said Santos.

Amorello resigned under pressure from chief of the Big Dig in 2006 after a woman was killed by fallen concrete in a tunnel.

Amorello has bailed himself out of jail, and is scheduled for court early Monday morning.

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