BOSTON, Nov. 19, 2014—A repeat drunk driver who crashed into a car with three children in it was held pending a hearing to determine whether he poses too great a threat to the public to be granted bail pending trial, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

JOHN SFERRAZZA (D.O.B. 5/21/65) of South Boston was arraigned today in Roxbury Municipal Court on charges of operating under the influence as a fourth or subsequent offense, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, larceny of a motor vehicle, receiving a stolen motor vehicle, and assault and battery on a police officer for yesterday’s incident in the South End.

At the request of Assistant District Attorney Tejasi Thatte, Judge Pamela Dashiell ordered him held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing under Ch. 278, Sect. 58A, of the Massachusetts General Laws, which allows a judge to hold a defendant accused of certain offenses without bail for up to 90 days pending trial upon “clear and convincing evidence that no conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of any other person or the community.” That hearing is scheduled for Nov. 24.

Boston Police responded to the area of 32 Northampton St. just after 4:45 yesterday afternoon for a report of a two-car collision. On arrival, they found a 2002 Accura MDX with significant body damage to its driver’s side and a 2003 Saturn Vue with damage to its front end. The Saturn had no license plates

The Accura’s driver, a 28-year-old East Boston man, told officers that he was driving toward Albany Street when he saw the Saturn coming toward him. It swerved and crossed the double line at a high rate of speed, prompting him to turn to the right. As a result, the Saturn struck the driver’s side of the Accura.

Inside the Accura at the time of the collision were his two daughters, ages 1 and 2, and his 4-year-old nephew.

“Miraculously, none of the occupants was physically injured,” Conley said.

Officers also encountered Sferrazza at the scene. They found him sitting on the curb, drooling and incoherent due to extremely slurred speech. The officers smelled a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. Because he was unable to walk under his own power, the officers carried Sferrazza into a cruiser. They did not observe him to have any noticeable injuries.

While the officers were on scene, they learned that the Saturn had just been reported stolen from a nearby dealership. A short time later, an employee of that dealership approached the officers and told them that Sferrazza sometimes stays there. Prior to the crash, the man said, he saw the Saturn drive off the lot. Sferrazza was the only person present who could have driven it away, he said.

Officers were unable to book Sferrazza because of his extreme intoxication. Though largely incapable of recognizable speech, he allegedly uttered “[expletive] you” to the booking officer and spat in his face.

Sferrazza has previously been convicted of operating under the influence in Barnstable and Boston. He received a year’s probation and a fine in 1985; a suspended sentence later the same year; a two-year sentence with six months to serve and the balance suspended for two years in 1990; two and a half years behind bars in 1995; another two and a half years in 1998; and a year behind bars in 1999 for an offense committed while the 1998 case was still pending.

If convicted of this latest offense, he faces at least two and a half years in a house of correction and up to five years in state prison. He was represented today by attorney Peter Fellman.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.