MGH Surgeon Charged With Driving Drunk, Striking Pedestrians

Authorities have charged a prominent Massachusetts doctor with driving drunk, striking three pedestrians in a crosswalk and then leaving the scene.

Dr. Michael Watkins, a vascular surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital, was released on $1,500 bail after pleading not guilty Tuesday to charges including assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and operating under the influence.

Prosecutors say the 64-year-old Watkins struck the victims just before midnight Friday in Boston's South End. One victim told police the driver stopped, honked his horn and then accelerated, hitting the pedestrians. They are all expected to survive.

Watkins' attorney said in court that his client was not beeping at the pedestrians, but at another car blocking the crosswalk and his blood-alcohol measurement was barely above the legal limit to drive.