WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J.—Officers dispatched to Heidi Lane for a possible motor vehicle crash just before 11 p.m. on May 25 called an ambulance after observing two residents standing around a man seated on the curb and bleeding from cuts to his face and arms.
A white 2016 Volkswagen GTI bearing New York registration was off the roadway and appeared to have struck a tree.
A resident on scene stated she told the driver to exit his vehicle because it was smoking. She added that the driver had attempted to sit on the curb but fell over into the street, scraping his face.
Police approached the driver to speak with him. He reportedly told them, “I’m OK. I had a little bit to drink, I admit it.”
The driver, 42, told police he consumed two beers at the restaurant he works at in Hillsdale and then went to a friend’s house party in Westwood, where he had two more beers.
Police reported the driver had bloodshot and watery eyes, slow and slurred speech, and a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath when he spoke.
The reporting officer says, “I repeatedly had to ask [him] to stay seated as he appeared very unsteady on his feet when he attempted to stand up. [He] asked officers if he was going to be in trouble. When officers replied that he would, he laughed and replied, ‘Okay, good.’”
Officers inspected the wrecked car, noting that the driver’s side airbag deployed and that the crash had broken out the front passenger side window. A strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanated from the vehicle.
Police said they saw an open container of Corona Light in plain sight on the passenger side floor.
When asked about the open container, the driver reportedly said, “I didn’t drink it that much, just a couple sips.”
Asked why he decided to come down Heidi Lane, a dead end street, he said that he was trying to get home to Airmont, N.Y.
It was in the opinion of both officers present that the driver was operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor and/or drugs. Due to his facial injuries and possible head trauma, officers decided that standardized field sobriety tests would not be safe for him to perform.
Tri-boro Ambulance 222 transported the driver to Valley Hospital. His car was towed to Emerson.
While the defendant was being triaged he vomited on his clothing twice. After receiving medical attention he was informed he was being charged with DUI. He was read his Miranda warnings and then he consented to submit samples of his blood for testing.
Summonses were returnable to Pascack Joint Municipal Court: driving while intoxicated by liquor and/or drugs, failure to keep right, careless driving, reckless driving, consumption of an alcoholic beverage while driving, and open container of an alcoholic beverage.
The blood sample was taken to the state labs for testing.
Pascack Press requests neighborhood police reports every week and summarizes noteworthy items for readers. The following are allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent until and unless they are found guilty in court.
