There are times when drunk drivers are much more likely to be stopped by New Jersey State Police or municipal patrolmen, but it’s safe to say that anyone who drinks and drives in the Garden State also runs the risk of being arrested for DWI. As New Jersey drunken driving defense experts, the attorneys at the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall understand the risks faced by drunk motorists and the penalties associated with potential convictions.
Whether one lives, works or commutes in Bergen County, Essex County, Hudson or Middlesex counties, the chances of being stopped for even the most basic of traffic infractions can open the door to further scrutiny by a police officer. When that happens, and depending on the individual’s physical or mental condition, a patrolman may suspect some kind of impairment by the way in which the driver acts or speaks.
It isn’t that uncommon for a motorist to be asked by a policeman to exit his vehicle and perform a series of field sobriety tests, which is often the first step toward a full-blown DWI arrest. As DWI-DUI lawyers, we have seen a myriad of scenarios where drivers find themselves facing serious and potentially costly drunk driving charges following a simple error in judgment on the roadway.
The following events that occurred in Ocean County and Monmouth County in the recent past are just a few of the hundreds of DWI and drug DUI arrests that occur on a regular basis every year in the state. One such incident took place in Stafford, NJ, when a motorist from Manahawkin, New Jersey, was picked up following what appeared to have been a domestic dispute.
Based on news articles, the 24-year-old suspect was reportedly stopped by police around 1am in the morning after police were notified that a man had left a local residence following an argument. Officers from the Stafford PD arrested the man and charged him with driving under the influence, reckless driving, and operating a motor vehicle while under a suspended license. The man was eventually turned over to the Wall police department due to an outstanding warrant.
In another incident, this one out of Villas, a woman was taken into custody by police about a week following a crash that required the motorist to be rescued from her overturned vehicle after it struck a parked car in Lower Twp., NJ. According to the news item, the individual was charged with DWI, as well as receiving a number of other traffic-related summonses following the accident.
Over in Lakewood, a New Jersey driver was arrested by police, reportedly at gunpoint following an alleged DWI-related hit-and-run incident. Based on police reports, the man was facing a variety of charges including driving while intoxicated, careless and reckless driving, failure to report an accident and leaving the scene of an automobile crash.
Additional arrests in the Wall area, five in total, included a 41-year-old resident of Paterson, NJ, who was stopped apparently for a traffic-related offense along a stretch of Rte 34 in Monmouth County. The arrest occurred some time after 8pm and involved charges of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. A 21-year-old Jersey City motorist was also stopped on Rte 34 for a similar offense.
A driver from the Egg Harbor area who was injured in a single-vehicle wreck was later arrested by police after it was determined that the man was allegedly drunk at the time of the crash in Hamilton Twp. in the early morning hours on a Saturday. The 54-year-old driver was apparently alone in his vehicle when it reportedly crossed over the centerline and crashed into a guardrail next to the opposing lane. Emergency personnel found the vehicle in the woods next to the roadway.
Driver arrested for DWI in Villas car crash last week , PressOfAtlanticCity.com, December 9, 2013
; Patch.com; December 7, 2013
Drunken Driving Arrest In Ocean County Leads To Wall Township, Patch.com, November 2, 2013