On this past Tuesday night, a woman from defendant from Harrison, New Jersey was charged with driving while intoxicated after she struck two vehicles and then flipped her Volkswagen SUV, according to police reports. When the police arrived at the scene of the accident, it was a little before midnight and they found the defendant and her passenger being treated by medical personnel in the ambulance.
According to police, the defendant was “continuously crying,” as they tried to question her about the accident and how it happened. However, neither the defendant or their passenger could remember the details of the accident. At this time police noticed that the defendant was slurring her words and her speech was incoherent in between her sobbing. Police officers also noted that they smelled alcohol on her breath and at this time they became suspicious that the defendant may have been intoxicated. However, the defendant continued to the maintain that she had consumed only two beers earlier in the night.
Both women were taken to Hoboken University Medical Center where they were checked for injuries and any medical conditions. According to reports, the defendant had to be assisted by an officer who stood next to her to prevent her from falling. At this time the defendant was given two field sobriety tests, and she was unable to perform either correctly. At that point she was arrested and charged with DWI and assault by auto because her passenger sustained injuries during the accident.
After her arrest, the defendant pleaded with cops to allow her to take two more sobriety tests that were different from the first set of tests. However, police felt they had enough probable cause to make the defendant submit to a breath test with resulted in a 0.12 BAC. In New Jersey the legal limit is 0.08 BAC and any thing above that is a per se violation for drunk driving. A reading of 0.12 is punishable by a mandatory suspension of 7 to 12 months for a first offense. More importantly, the assault by auto charge is an indictable offense that is punishable by prison time and will be set to CJP in the Hudson County Superior Court in Jersey City. Any time an injury results from an accident where the driver is arrested for suspected DWI, the defendant can be charged with assault by auto even if the only injuries are to the defendant themselves. When you are facing serious charges such as these it is always important that you speak with an experienced Hoboken NJ DWI Lawyer about the potential consequences and your options.
