WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J.—A Westwood man, 24, racked up a list of complaints after he and a passenger were found passed out in their car, Nov. 22 at 2:21 a.m., at Glen Road at the Garden State Parkway.
According to the police report, Central Dispatch followed up on a welfare check by requested an officer to the area exit ramp for the report of a silver vehicle parked in the middle of the intersection.
The officer arrived on scene and found the vehicle, a grey Hyundai Genesis, bearing New Jersey registration, with its driver and passenger asleep.
The vehicle was running, in drive, with the driver’s foot on the brake as the car rested against the Glen Road curb.
The officer radioed for an officer to respond to the location. Then he attempted to make contact with the driver as passerby witness stood by near the parkway overpass.
The officer reports that after opening the driver’s side door he immediately smelled the odor of burnt marijuana. He turned the vehicle off.
“I unclipped the driver’s seat belt, startled the driver, and requested he step out of the vehicle, to which he repeatedly asked for me to ‘chill,’” reads the report.
The driver attempted to put his seat belt back on before finally exiting the vehicle. Once out of the vehicle, he told the officer he knew where he was.
“Yeah, we’re going that way,” the report says he explained.
The defendant’s eyes were watery and bloodshot and he was unsteady on his feet. He was confused and had trouble understanding the officer’s request to stand in front of the patrol vehicle.
“Once he did comply, I asked him where he was going and he replied, “We’re going to my house, right here in Westwood,” the report says.
The officer pointed out they were in Woodcliff Lake, then asked for identification. The defendant “proceeded to retrieve cash bills out of his pocket and attempt to hand them to me, saying that it was all he had. After telling him I did not need money from him but his driver’s license, he stated, ‘I’m sorry, yes,’ before going back to his pockets and ultimately offering me $6,” the officer reports.
The defendant was patted down for weapons and placed in handcuffs before being advised he was being detained. The officer then checked on the passenger and waited on the arrival the backup officer.
Officers worked to wake the passenger. All the while, the defendant “continuously disobeyed my commands to stand in front of the vehicle, and as a result was placed in the rear of patrol vehicle 340 for his safety,” police said.
Officers were then able to remove the passenger, 29, from Englewood, and stand him at the rear of the vehicle where he was patted down for weapons and appeared to be falling back asleep.
A probable-cause search of the car turned up a glass bowl in the center console, Game cigarillos, and Dutch Masters cigars that are all commonly used to smoke marijuana. Also located in the front passenger compartment was the vehicle registration, along with an expired insurance card.
“Following the search, I opened the rear door of my patrol vehicle and [the defendant] immediately began apologizing for ‘people being … stupid.’ At this time, I read [him] his Miranda rights and when asked if he understood them he replied, ‘Yes sir.’”
Officers asked if he’d been drinking. He replied, “Yeah, I drank a little bit” and “My boy’s just a … idiot.” He advised he was trying to go home to Westwood. When asked what had happened, he replied that his “boy” was “too lit” to drive.
An officer then asked for permission to move his vehicle out of the intersection. The defendant replied, “No, sir” because he said a friend was on his way to get the car.
He was then taken out of the vehicle for verbal and standardized field sobriety tests.
When asked how much he had to drink tonight, he replied that his passenger was supposed to drive his car home.
When police advised the defendant he was going to initiate some tests, he stated he was going to fail them and that he was trying to get the car home.
When asked why he was going to fail, he replied, “‘Cause I haven’t been driving, sir.” Police advised the defendant he was asleep at the wheel when officers arrived on scene, and and he stated, “No, I was not.”
After volunteering he was in the process of getting his master’s degree, he was asked to recite the English alphabet from D to Q, to which he replied, “I’m gonna fail, straight up.” Indeed, he could not complete this test, as he mumbled letters A–P and proceeded to say, “Q, R, F. This is all I have, sir.”
Other tests failed, the defendant said, “I’m not even gonna disagree with you. I’m drunk.” Soon after he said, “Sorry, this is the best thing I got” and “You could test me as much as you want, I don’t want to drive.”
The defendant was arrested and placed into a patrol car. His car was called in for a John’s Law tow, and flares were set up behind it for traffic safety.
At headquarters, while waiting out an observation period, the defendant became upset. He refused to give samples for a breath test, was advised of the penalties for refusing, and still declined.
He was allowed to call his girlfriend, who later arrived to sign the potential liability form and take custody of the two.
The defendant was served with the following criminal and traffic summonses: possession of drug paraphernalia, operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs, refusal to submit to chemical breath test, obstructing passage of other vehicles, reckless driving, careless driving likely to endanger person or property, traffic on marked lanes, delaying traffic, failure to observe traffic control device, improper right and left turns, obstruction of windshield for vision, noisy muffler, and failure to possess insurance card.
All summonses were returnable to the Pascack Joint Municipal Court on Nov. 27.
