MANSFIELD - A clerk magistrate found Thursday that police had enough evidence to charge a local off-duty police officer with drunken driving, driving to endanger and leaving the scene of two accidents earlier this month.

Patrolman William Kelly, 34, who has since been suspended without pay, will now be summonsed to face arraignment before a judge in Attleboro District Court. No date has yet been set.

Kelly, who has been on the department for about 1 1/2 years, is accused of drinking at Casey O'Conor's Pub and Grill on North Main Street on Oct. 11 before driving off and sideswiping a parked car in front of the fire station.

He allegedly drove away from that accident, then struck a fire hydrant on West Street near Route 140.

Police found his damaged pickup truck at West Village apartments on West Street. Police searched for Kelly the night of the incident before they were contacted later by his lawyer, who told police he would not make any statement or come to the police station, authorities have said.

The finding was made after a 45-minute hearing before Antonio Gibbs, an assistant clerk magistrate in Brockton District Court, and means only that police have probable cause to issue the charges.

Show-cause hearings are not open to the public.

Kelly's lawyer, Kevin Reddington of Brockton, said afterward that a police officer only read from a police report on the incident during the hearing.

He said police have a receipt indicating Kelly bought four beers during the course of an evening at Casey O'Conor's, but lack evidence that he was driving impaired.

"It was clear to me these magistrate hearings are a complete waste of time," Reddington said.

He said police only have to meet a low legal threshold to get the criminal complaint issued.

"There was no evidence of impairment, whatsoever," Reddington said.

Kelly declined to comment.

A clerk magistrate from another jurisdiction heard the case to avoid any appearance of conflict with clerk magistrates in Attleboro District Court, which has jurisdiction of cases in Attleboro, North Attleboro, Mansfield and Norton. Mansfield Police Chief Arthur O'Neill said Thursday he was satisfied that the clerk magistrate found probable cause and disputed Reddington's characterization of the evidence in the case.

"We have what we believe is a good case," O'Neill said.

The case was presented to the clerk magistrate by Mansfield Police Lt. James Seekell and Patrolman Kenneth Wright, who is the police department's court prosecutor.