As New Jersey DWI lawyers, I and my colleagues are well aware of the circumstances that can surround a DWI-related traffic stop. While most people are, so to speak, content with taking their medicine and receiving a summons for drunken driving, others may not feel they deserve it. Those individuals will likely seek out the services of a qualified drunken driving attorney to better understand their options and perhaps to fight the charges in front of a judge.
On the other hand, there are other drivers who fear the potential repercussions so much that they decide to either avoid being stopped or flee the scene, if an accident has occurred while they were behind the wheel. The point we wish to make here is that it is never advisable to run from the law. It is the rare individual who escapes the long arm of the law for long, and when caught the consequences can be many times worse than if that driver had simply accepted the situation and hired a lawyer to assist in his or her defense.
Sometimes a driver’s actions can seem completely indefensible, but that is a conclusion best left for a qualified lawyer to decide in the comfort of a conference room with his or her client. Still, some individuals will make things hard for themselves, and for that we can only advise taking a step back and viewing the situation with a pragmatic eye. Take, for instance, the news story of driver who allegedly caused multiple instances of property damage to other vehicles while reportedly operating his car under the influence of alcohol.
Based on news reports, a Linden, New Jersey driver was arrested by Readington police following an alleged string of hit-and-run collisions in that area. According to authorities, a 42-year-old man driving a gold-colored pickup was reported by a concerned citizen after it was apparently involved in a traffic collision in Franklin Township, NJ. The individual reporting the incident apparently noted that the driver of the pickup truck also left the scene following the crash.
After that initial report, Hunterdon Co. police departments were advised to watch for a vehicle matching the description provided by witnesses. According to news reports, less than 20 minutes later another report came in stating that someone had witnessed a gold-colored truck striking a utility pole along a stretch of Oldwick Rd., with the vehicle leaving the scene again. Witnesses were also able to supply Readington police with the vehicle’s license plate number.
Following the second report, yet another call came in from a witness to a crash along Oldwick Rd not far from Rte 22. The witness calling in the accident report reportedly stated that a gold-colored pickup hit a Mercedes Benz from the rear and then drove off. In this particular instance, occupants of the Mercedes included a young woman and her three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old baby riding in the back seat.
After this third instance, one of Readington’s mobile patrols located the vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle parked at a roadside diner on Rte 22. According to police reports, the driver was seen outside the vehicle, next to the driver’s door. As officers approached the man they believed him to be obviously intoxicated and took him into custody. Having failed a battery of field sobriety tests at police headquarters, the man was asked to take a breath test, but he refused. Police ended up charging the driver with a number of violations, including DWI, breath test refusal, leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving, among others. Additional charges were pending back in Franklin Township, which is where the initial crash took place.
Readington Police charge Linden driver after spree of hit-and-run crashes, NJ.com, April 20, 2012