DRUGS TIED TO TROOPER TIRADE

Prosecutor: Narcotics Unit Cop Was High

A despondent state police sergeant accused of terrorizing his wife at
gunpoint Monday had abused her in the past - once breaking her ribs -
and was in a drug-induced frenzy during this week's harrowing ordeal,
prosecutors said yesterday.

``He was high on cocaine and marijuana,'' prosecutor Maria Judge said
of Sgt. Tim White. ``This was a very dangerous incident, and by the
grace of God, it wasn't more than that.''

White, who works in the department's narcotics inspections unit, was
deemed a danger to the community yesterday by Stoughton District Court
Judge Francis Crimmins. The 39-year-old trooper, a former state police
spokesman, was sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for a 30-day evaluation.

White's attorney, Tim Burke, wanted the trooper placed in a private
mental health facility, saying his client had stopped taking his
prescription anti-depressants.

``This was a cry for help,'' Burke said of the incident. ``This case
cries out for intervention. He needs help.''

White is charged with shoving his department-issued .40-caliber Sig
Sauer handgun into his wife's mouth and clothed backside during a
fracas in their Stoughton home. With the couple's two young girls in
the house, the 16-year veteran cop and his wife, Maura, had a
``slapping match'' that culminated with the officer taking his gun out
of a safe and putting it in his own mouth.

``He said to her, `Watch this. I want you to see this,' '' Stoughton
police Sgt. Robert Welch said. ``She turned around and he had the
weapon in his mouth.''

He then turned the weapon on her, saying ``I'll do you instead,''
Welch said. ``He grabbed her by the face and inserted the weapon into
her mouth.''

After pulling the gun on her, Welch said, White then allegedly slapped
her, knocking her to the ground. The cop ripped the batteries out of
the cordless phone when she tried to call for help before climbing
into bed with their daughter, with the gun in his pocket, Welch said.

Maura White, who sobbed in court as a chilling 911 tape of the
violence was played, sustained a cut lip in the fight.

On the tape, Maura White can be heard crying while rounding up their
two girls, ages 4 and 6. She also can be heard yelling at him, at one
point screaming, ``It's not my fault.''

``This is the last straw Timmy. This is it,'' she says, breaking into
hysterics.

Later, she says, ``Don't turn this around on me,'' before screaming,
``Get that gun away.''

She tells dispatcher Kevin Lima that she's trying to get the girls out
of the house.

``It's OK baby,'' she tells one of the girls. ``Go get your coats,
honey.''

White was arrested at his home after a tense, 1 -hour standoff, during
which he huddled in the girl's bedroom with his gun.

``He was fairly depressed and wanted to cause harm to himself,'' said
Stoughton Sgt. Robert Bohn, who convinced White to surrender. ``He was
saying, `I'll never see my children again.' ''

The incident marks the third time police have responded to the
couple's fights. In July, Maura White suffered broken ribs during a
fracas, and in a Dec. 6, fight, Tim White allegedly picked his wife
off the ground and attempted to throw her.

It was unknown yesterday why charges were not brought against White
for the earlier alleged assaults. The trooper has been placed on paid
administrative leave. A hearing on his status is scheduled for Monday.

State police Lt. Ron Sieberg said, ``There will be a full
investigation into trooper White's actions,'' including a probe of
where he obtained the drugs. Part of White's job was destroying drugs
after cases have been concluded.