A Boston police officer has been charged with new felony offenses stemming from a January 1 crash on Columbia Road that left a 20 year-old man with a traumatic brain injury.

Police and prosecutors say that Domenic Columbo, 40, was drunk when he slammed his speeding pick-up truck into a Honda Accord carrying two people on New Year’s Day. Columbo has been charged with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon – a motor vehicle – and single counts of operating under the influence causing serious bodily injury and negligent operation of a motor vehicle. Columbo’s blood-alcohol content was greater than .11, well over the legal limit to drive, police found.

The injuries to the car’s passenger are “severe and long-lasting,” according to DA Conley. “They will likely change the course of his life and the lives of those who love him. And the cause of those injuries, we allege, was one man’s decision to drink and drive,” he said.

In a statement, Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said, “I hold my officers to the highest standards and it saddens me to see that a police officer put himself in a position that caused harm to others. I wish to send my sincere well wishes to those that were injured as a result of this incident.”

Columbo, who has been suspended with pay since the incident, is due back in Dorchester Municipal Court on April 24. Boston