New Jersey DWI Lawyer Blog
How can I make the most of a bad situation? This is would seem to be a typical question foremost in the mind of a person being pulled over for driving under the influence of alcohol. Certainly there are things a person can do to soften the blow of a DWI arrest, but running from the cops isn’t one of them. As a New Jersey drunk driving defense lawyer, my aim is to help drivers who have been accused of DWI and drug DUI — reckless driving and evading a police officer are not going to help one’s case.
This type of drunken driving arrest played out in Jersey City not long ago when an apparently inebriated driver was observed operating his automobile in a dangerous manner. According to reports, law enforcement officers in an unmarked vehicle saw a gold Mazda Millenia being driven recklessly along Martin Luther King Drive. Giving chase with their emergency lights activated they pursued the suspect vehicle, which proceeded to drive through a stop sign at Bostwick and Ocean avenues without stopping.
Apparently exceeding posted speed limits, the chase continued down Ocean Avenue, as officers saw the car cross a double yellow in order to swerve around traffic stopped for a red light at Bidwell Avenue. The driver reportedly ran two additional red lights before turning off Ocean.
The chase essentially ended when the driver lost control of the car on Van Cleef Street and smashed into a Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle parked along the curbside. The driver, 28-year-old Brandon W. James, apparently resisted officers’ attempts to take him into custody, during which they reported smelling the strong odor of alcohol on the man. A search of the vehicle, which allegedly was not registered to James, turned up a partially consumed bottle of brandy.
The driver was arrested and charged with drunk driving, eluding a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest. He was taken to Jersey City Medical Center for a blood-alcohol content (BAC) blood test, according to police reports.
Jersey City cops say high-speed chase of gold Mazda ends with crash into SUV and driver facing DWI charges, NJ.com, Saturday, May 15, 2010