Fair Lawn – 39-year-old Alexander Denegri of Ridgewood was arrested early September 13 on charges of driving while intoxicated after he was found by the police with multiple stab wounds on his arm.

According to the police reports, Denegri was driving on Fairclough Place at Orchard Street when a fight started between him and a passenger in his vehicle. Sgt. Brian Metzler reported that the fight started around 2:20 a.m. and Denegri pulled over to continue the fight outside the vehicles.

Police were called to the scene and Denegri admitted to drinking. He was issued a field sobriety test which he failed.

Denegri was taken to St. Joseph’s Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.

It was not clear if the stab wounds occurred sometime earlier in the night or during the fight. The incident is still under investigation.

Denegri was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated.

News Source: www.NorthJersey.com

VINELAND – A Millville woman was charged with DUI after she reportedly fell asleep behind the wheel when she was waiting for her order in a McDonald’s drive-thru lane.

The incident took place on Saturday at 11:19 p.m. when the woman, identified as Renee M. Riley, of Main Street, was found asleep in the drive-through lane of the South Delsea Drive fast food restaurant. The officer who arrived at the scene saw that the woman was asleep with her foot on the brake pedal.

Once the driver placed her order, she was instructed to pull forward by the drive-thru staff. The woman’s order was delivered by an employee after some time who told the police officer that both the driver and a passenger in the front seat were asleep.

The officer then knocked on the window of the Chrysler several times to wake the driver and asked her to put her car in park. The officer then asked her if she had consumed any alcohol, to which she replied that she had a beer earlier.

The woman had been at a Vineland party earlier in the evening before coming to the drive-thru.

Riley was then issued some field sobriety tests which she failed. She was arrested and taken to a police station where her breath test was measured to determine her blood alcohol level. Riley’s BAC was recorded at 0.13 percent, almost double the legal limit allowed for driving.

Riley’s vehicle was towed away from the drive-thru and she was later released into the custody of a family member.

She was also issued a summons for reckless driving.

News Source: www.CourierPostOnline.com

VINELAND – 27-year-old Jose A. Castro was pulled over by Vineland police on 5 September for reckless driving and driving under the influence. However, he lied to the police about his name at the time of the arrest.

According to the authorities, the city man was stopped in the area of South East Avenue and Elmer Street for reckless driving. A police officer present at the scene saw that Castro had bloodshot and watery eyes. The officer also detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from his vehicle. He was driving a red Pontiac Grand Am with Pennsylvania license plates.

Castro was having difficulty communicating with the police officers so another officer was sent to the scene to translate for Castro. Vineland police present at the scene asked him to give a fingerprint so they could identify him. However, he said to the office, “If they send me to Mexico I be back in two months.”

He was then given a field sobriety test which he failed. The officers then took Castro to the Vineland Police Department to charge him with driving while intoxicated.

At the police station, he was asked for identification. However, Castro lied saying that his name was Arturo Castro and that he was born in April 1987.

When police were unable to find a record for this name, he then told them that his name was Arturo Castro-Carrillo and he was born in April 1988.

After searching again, the police were still not able to find a record for Arturo Castro-Carrillo. Police then informed him that he was being fingerprinted for identification purposes. According to police reports, he then told the officers that he’s be back in two months if he was sent to Mexico.

He was finally identified as Jose A. Castro after his fingerprints were taken. His birth date was in March 1988.

Once his identity was confirmed, Castro faced multiple charges including hindering apprehension, driving under the influence, reckless driving, refusal to supply a breath sample and unlicensed driver.

He was held in the Cumberland County Jail on a detainer.

News Source: www.NJ.com

Dash cams in patrol cars are very effective in recording intoxicated drivers. They have also served well in West Deptford’s police cruisers in the last nine years.

Video footage from dash cams are used to serve as proof in the court system. They also help in preventing lengthy drags in court and in other cases, they may even be used against the offender. Depending on the video recording, the prosecutor may say that the case ‘really doesn’t have a defense.’

The $52,000 camera systems installed in West Deptford’s police cruisers started malfunctioning over the years as they needed to be repaired. As the cameras became old, they stopped properly recording video and audio. Sometimes there was audio but no video and vice versa. In cases where attorneys asked for footage of stops, none was available in most cases.

Sean McKenna, West Deptford’s deputy police chief says, “It’s just been a nightmare.”

The department now needs modern cameras which will need a funding of $30,114 or more. The trend of purchasing such equipment will soon grow in New Jersey.

A new bill signed on Wednesday night by Gov. Christie requires that all police vehicles be fitted with video recording systems. If they do not have the systems installed in their vehicles, then the officers should carry the recording equipment. The bill was introduced by Assemblyman Paul D. Moriarty who faced a DWI charge in July 2012. However, the charges against him were dismissed after the video recording of his arrest was used to prove that Moriarty was not at fault and was driving normally.

The new bill will take effect in six months and it applies to new police vehicles only, not the old ones.

According to Moriarity, police officers will not be required to install new equipment in the existing vehicles. They will need to be installed in new vehicles only. So if no new cars are bought this year, they don’t pay anything. This is going to be an issue for smaller departments as they won’t have the funds to install the cameras.

According to McKenna, a new recording system was proposed by the West Deptford police in the budget last year and also in the year before that. However, the price for the proposed system was too steep.

McKenna said that a local company donated $10,000 to help overcome the fiscal hill. The remaining funds will come from capital improvement funds, amounting to $20,000.

New cameras have been installed in nine of the department’s cruisers which will transmit footage to a server wirelessly from the vehicles. The new cameras will not require manual transmission of the footage like it used to be for the old cameras.

A lot of the old cameras were taking thousands of dollars in repair of cameras and microphones. Most of the devices have to be sent back to the recording company to be replaced, and the old cameras cause a lot of trouble for the police department as the recorded footage without video or audio not only causes a lot of frustration, but it also wastes a lot of time.

“We haven’t lost any cases just because of the video, but it’s always there to help our case,” said McKenna.

There are so many similar cases to Moriarty’s case, like the case of a young woman who swerved two to three times between lanes. However, the video then showed that the woman was later trying to avoid potholes. So web cam recordings can be used by both the prosecutors and the defending lawyer in the case.

According to the new bill, convicted drunken drivers will be required to pay $25 as surcharge which will be used to fund the technology.

News Source: Mobile.Philly.com

A new law was signed Wednesday which requires all new municipal police patrol vehicles to be equipped with video cameras.

The bill was sponsored by Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-4 of Washington Township) whose DWI arrest was captured in an in-car camera. The video footage of the arrest was later used in the dismissal of all charges against Moriarty as it showed multiple discrepancies between arresting officer Joseph DiBuonaventura’s pursuit of Moriarty. DiBuonaventura’s police report was totally different from the actual facts and the video helped clear Moriarity’s name.

According to the prosecutors, Moriarty was illegally stopped that day and was targeted by the arresting officer, DiBuonaventura. Moriarty repeatedly told the officer that he did not have any drink that day, but the officer still charged him. After a trial, the officer is now facing 14 criminal charges including official misconduct, harassment and falsification of a police report. According to Moriarty, the video of the incident was crucial in proving his innocence.

Governor Chris Christie signed the bill Wednesday evening stating that the bill requires all municipal police departments to install in-car cameras in all patrol cars, whether newly purchased or leased. The bill was specifically focused towards the use of in-car cameras in vehicles that are used for traffic stops. In case in-car cameras are not available, patrol officers can be equipped with body cameras as a more affordable option. Currently, only nine out of the township’s 50 patrol cars are equipped with cameras.

To cover the funding cost for the new equipment, a $25 surcharge was set aside by the legislation on DWI convictions.

Moriarity was arrested in his Washington township hometown in 2012 on DWI charges. His arrest was the impetus for the bill. Although the bill was initially approved by both the state Assembly and Senate in the last legislative session, it was pocket-vetoed by the governor. The bill was later re-introduced by Moriarity and it got approval from both the Assembly and Senate after that.

Moriarty, who also serves as Chairman of the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee, said that having video footage is crucial to back up any claims of abuse or use of excessive force against civilians in court. Video footage not only helps protect civilians, but it will also ensure the protection of police officers who may be wrongly accused of impropriety.

News Source: www.NJ.com

According to Bayonne police, a third drunk driving incident was reported in Bayonne within a week. The incident involved a 29-year-old Jersey City man who was driving down West 49th Street in a stolen car. The man hit 3 parked cars on the way.

Another drunk driving incident that took place last Wednesday was caused by John P. Prins of Seaview Avenue at around 10:33 p.m. The Jersey Journal documented the incident stating that Prins was drifting between his lane and the one going the other way, hitting three care in the process.

Lt. Janine Foy with Bayonne police reported that Prins was driving west from the Boulevard toward Newark Bay on West 49th Street. He was driving a stolen white Nissan Altima and he hit another white Nissan Altima in his lane. Prins then veered into the other lane and hit a gold Honda Accord which caused his vehicle to drift back into his own lane and strike a silver Infiniti. All three vehicles were unoccupied at the time they were hit.

The incident was investigation as police arrived and found Prins to be under the influence. He was arrested and charged for driving while intoxicated, reckless driving and unlicensed driving. The vehicle he was driving was then reported to be stolen out of Hoboken on 18 August. So apart from the drunk driving charges, another charge was added, that of stolen property. The owner of the white Nissan was also contacted. The extent of damage to the stolen car and the other three vehicles was not described. However, the silver Infiniti and the stolen vehicle had to be towed from the scene.

Prins was taken to the Bayonne Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries. His blood sample was also taken for testing to determine his blood alcohol content at the time of arrest. Results of the blood analysis were not available.

Prins’ bail was set at $25,000 with a 10 percent cash option.

The third drunk driving incident in Bayonne took place on 1 September when a man drove his car drunk after removing an ignition interlock device installed in his vehicle.

In another drunk driving incident that took place on 7 September, an intoxicated Edison woman struck four different parked cars on Avenue B.

Source: www.NJ.com