WESTWOOD, N.J.—An officer was dispatched to Old Hook Road and Lexington Avenue the night of June 20 on a call on a two-vehicle crash without injuries.
At the location, the officer saw a utility van and Ford Explorer on the side of the road. The Ford’s airbag had been deployed. The officer called for an ambulance, checked with operators of the other vehicle, and requested a second ambulance.
The officer asked the Explorer driver for her credentials. The woman, 50, from Westwood, had difficulty finding them. According to the police report, she gave off an odor of alcoholic beverage.
After calling for a second unit, the officer administered standard field sobriety tests, which the defendant failed.
As she was being arrested, she tried to pull away from the arresting officer. Nevertheless, she was placed in handcuffs and the police car, then taken to headquarters. Her vehicle was impounded.
At headquarters she refused to take a breath alcohol test.
She was charged with obstructing administration of law, assault by auto causing bodily injury, driving while intoxicated (DWI), refusal to submit a breath sample, DWI in a school zone, reckless driving, following too closely, careless driving, use of a cell phone in a moving vehicle, and failure to exhibit registration.
She is scheduled to appear in Westwood Municipal Court on Aug. 7.