New Jersey DWI Lawyer Blog
Lower County Police recently reported the arrest of a Mays Landing, NJ, man in connection with an early morning car crash on January 23. Based on news reports, 41-year-old Joseph W. Rothenberger was allegedly intoxicated when he crashed his 2004 Mercedes Benz into a tree. Police investigating the accident presume that Rothenberger left a North Cap May residence and was traveling northbound on Deborah Avenue at a high rate of speed. He reportedly crashed his vehicle in the 200 block of Suzanne Avenue when he apparently lost control and ran off the roadway.
As drunk driving defense lawyers, I and my colleagues have seen this kind of DWI scenario played out again and again all across New Jersey. In this instance, police reports indicate that the supposedly drunken man’s vehicle crossed the curb and drive over a sidewalk, eventually ending up in a neighbor’s yard and causing substantial damage to the lawn and a chain link fence before hitting a tree.
Police allege that the driver attempted to flee on foot from the scene of the accident. According to reports, Rothenberger was detained by several other neighbors in the area and held until police arrived. The neighbors indicated that a male and female passenger in the back seat of the vehicle also fled the scene of the accident and apparently ran back to the residence on Deborah Avenue.
As a result fo the accident, Rothenberger received abrasions to his face, but refused to be transported to the hospital by emergency responders. Reports indicate that the man was uncooperative and belligerent with officers at the scene and when told he was being placed under arrest for driving while intoxicated, he attempted to physically resist his arrest.
Rothenberger was taken to the Lower Township Police Department where he was processed and charged with DWI, resisting arrest, refusal to submit to a breath test, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and failure to report an accident.
Hamilton man arrested following Cape DWI crash, ShoreNewsToday.com, January 27, 2010
Man Arrested for Leaving Scene of Accident, DWI in Lower, CapeMayCountyHerald.com, January 25, 2010