OLD BRIDGE – The cause of death of 26-year-old Ashley Sara Chieco, who was killed in a car crash last summer while she was driving under the influence of Adderall or similar ADHD medication, swerving in a stolen SUV the wrong way on Route 18, has not been clear to the investigators.

According to the police and an attorney who viewed Chieco’s autopsy report, the cause of death is not known. However, Chieco had a blood-alcohol level of 0.189 at the time of her autopsy, which is more than double the legal limit. Her blood test also revealed that she was positive for Adderall or similar medication which is used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. According to police reports, Chieco had a prescription for the medication.

Adderall is prescribed to adults with Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The medication is sometime prescribed for weight loss.

Chieco, a crisis counselor from Wood-Ridge, was out drinking vodka with a friend on 16 August, 2013 at Martell’s Tiki Bar in Point Pleasant Beach. After drinking, she climbed into an SUV which she thought was hers, but was not, and she attempted to drive home in Bergen County. While she was driving home, she collided head-on with a vehicle which was being driven by Dana Corrar of Old Bridge.

According to witnesses, Chieco was travelling the wrong way on Route 18 South and was swerving her vehicle to avoid the on-coming traffic. She hit Corrar’s car, who sustained serious injuries in the accident. Corrar had to spend several months in a hospital and assisted living facility to regain her health.

Chieco died shortly after the accident.

The SUV which Chieco was driving belonged to a couple who had left it in a Martell’s-owned parking lot. The keys of the SUV were left inside the vehicle according to the request of the valet attendants. Chieco stole the car after she left the Tiki Bar, thinking it was her vehicle.

Corrar’s attorney, Paul Edelstein of New York, along with an attorney for Chieco’s parents, are suing Martell’s. The attorneys claim that the bartenders continued to serve alcohol to Chieco even though she was visibly intoxicated.

According to Chieco’s credit card receipt, she ordered her first drink shortly after 11 a.m. She continued to drink for several hours till the time she left the bar at about 5:30 p.m.

Edelstein claims that Adderall or similar medication was not responsible for intensifying Chieco’s intoxication or play any role in the accident.

“Adderall mixed with alcohol does not bring you to another level of intoxication,” he said.

Chieco’s autopsy report as disclosed earlier this year by Old Bridge police. The report stated that a small amount of a drug was found in Chieco’s blood. The name of the drug was not disclosed at the time, but the report stated that Chieco had a medical condition and she was taking a prescription drug for that. That drug was not believed to have played any role in the accident.

It is not yet clear if the combination of that medicine with alcohol had to play any role in the crash.

The case has been taken up by Dr. John Brick, who is an expert on alcohol and drug studies. According to Dr. Brick, the use of alcohol with Adderall or similar ADHD medication could offset the depressant effects of alcohol. This effect reduces the fatigue that normally follows intoxication.

According to Dr. Brick, “The potential prevention problem from such a situation is that the person continues to consume alcohol without the drink-rate limitation that might come from being tired (and) calling it a night.”

He also said that the combination of Adderall and ADHD with an intoxicant depends on a number of factors such as the person’s weight, the dosage taken etc. However, the Office of Alcohol and Drug Education at the University of Notre Dame advises people not to mix alcohol with Adderall or other stimulants.

The University states that “The stimulant effect can cause (drinkers) to prolong use resulting in consuming unhealthy amounts of alcohol which has lead to cases of alcohol poisoning.” Presence of other stimulants in the system can also block the depressant effect, which shuts off any warning signs to the person’s body that they may be drinking too much.

The effect of Adderall used with alcohol is not clear and toxicologists hold different opinions on the matter.

Edelstein argued that if Adderall affected Ashley’s ability to know how much she was drinking, then the bar should have stopped her from drinking because they surely knew how much she was drinking.

Martell’s Tiki Bar has not yet responded despite repeated requests for comment on the story.

News Source: www.NJ.com

WEST LONG BRANCH – According to police reports, 32-year-old Francis S. Debout, of Long Branch, collided with a Monmouth University security vehicle when he was driving drunk late Saturday night. The collision knocked the security officer in the vehicle unconscious.

West Long Branch Police Chief Lawrence Mihlon said that after the collision, Debout apparently used the unconscious officer’s radio to call for help.

Mihlon reported that the collision occurred at about 11:41 p.m. Saturday. Debout was driving a 2012 red Dodge Charger southbound on Larchwood Avenue and crossed over the northbound lane. After travelling for about 62 feet, he collided with the security vehicle head-on.

Monmouth University Security Officer Michael Cittadino was inside the security vehicle. He was parked on the east side of Larchwood Avenue near Palmer Avenue. As a result of the collision, the security vehicle was pushed approximately 16 feet before it came to rest against the university’s fence.

Officer Cittadino was knocked unconscious by the force of the impact. Emergency personnel at the scene were able to remove him from the vehicle and transport him to Jersey Shore University Medical Center. His vehicle was towed from the scene.

Debout’s Dodge Charger was impounded by the West Long Branch Police Department. He was arrested and charged with drunk driving.

The incident is being investigated by Patrolmen Nicholas Ferrugiaro, Jason Buono and Kevin Stroebel.

News Source: www.APP.com

PEQUANNOCK – A 49-year-old Wayne man is facing DWI charges after he crashed his 1995 Toyota Corolla into a utility pole on Sunday while intoxicated and left the scene.

Pequannock police received a report of a vehicle crashing into a utility pole at 12:05 a.m. The incident took place on Jacksonville Road. The driver left the scene after the crash with his damaged vehicle. The crash damaged the utility pole, landscaping and stone structures on two adjacent residences.

Township police officers later located the damaged vehicle on Van Allen Place when they responses to the area and conducted a search.

The offender, identified as Erik Linotte of Wayne, was stopped by the officers. Hehad a significant amount of damage to his Toyota Corolla. Officers soon determined that Linotte was under the influence of alcohol. Patrol Officer James Dericks interviewed him at the scene.

Upon questioning, Linotte told police he was in the area of Van Allen Place because he was lost.

Linotte was arrested and charged with reckless driving, failure to maintain a lane, driving an uninsured motor vehicle, and several other charges which include failure to report an accident, leaving the scene of an accident, driving while intoxicated and possession of an open alcohol container in a motor vehicle.

Linotte was later released into the custody of a friend. According to the police, he has a pending court appearance.

News Source: www.NJ.com

A bill advancing through the New Jersey Senate to eliminate mandatory license suspension for first-time drunken drivers is ranking among the worst ideas to come out of Trenton.

According to the current drunk driving law, first time drunken drivers have to face a mandatory license suspension which can last anywhere from 3 to 12 months. The duration of license suspension depends on the driver’s blood alcohol content level at the time of the offense. Drivers with a BAC of 0.15 or higher have to face a license suspension for at least seven months. The driver will be required to install an ignition interlock device in their car depending on the Judges’ decision. Installation of an ignition interlock device is not mandatory under the current law.

The new bill has been sponsored by Republican Sen. Jennifer Beck (Monmouth), and Democrat Sens. Nicholas Scutari (Union), Jim Whelan (Atlantic), Nellie Pou (Passaic), Brian Stack (Hudson) and Loretta Weinberg (Bergen). It requires all new first-time drunken drivers to install an ignition interlock in their cars, whatever their BAC, and it also reduces the mandatory license suspension to just 10 days.

Moreover, if the offender is able to prove in court that he already had an interlock device installed in his vehicle at the time the sentence was handed down, the 10-day license suspension is waived and the driver is free to go without even losing his license.

Supporters of the bill argue that the bill will help reduce subsequent drunk driving offenses because it requires installation of an interlock for all first-time offenders instead of only those with a BAC level of 0.15 or more. With the installation of interlock devices, the offenders won’t be able to start their vehicles if they are drunk, hence, significantly reducing the number of repeat offenses.

This is something good, but critics argue why the mandatory license suspension is severely reduced, because that will not be beneficial for the public. Moreover, the bill will only help reduce repeat offenses, but it is not doing anything to deter first time offenses. The bill will only help drunken drivers by eliminating their primary punishment for DWI in the first place.

According to statistics, one death is caused as a result of drunk driving every 51 minutes nationally. Drunken drivers also result in 82% of fatal accidents on the roads. It is believed that drunken driving is so common, that one in every three people is affected or involved in a DWI-related crash in their lifetime.

In 2013, New Jersey reported a total of 24,313 DWI arrests and 154 fatalities as a result of drunk drivers. This figure is more than the combined number of total murders for the year 2013 in Atlantic City, Jersey City, Elizabeth, Paterson, Irvington, New Brunswick and Camden, one of the most dangerous cities in America.

Statistics also confirm that approximately 9,000 Americans are killed annually in criminal incidents which use firearms. Compared to that, approximately 10,000 people are killed every year in the United States as a result of drunk drivers.

These figures clearly show that drunken driving poses the same threat to innocent people as armed bad guys. Even though New Jersey’s lawmakers were quick to propose gun control legislation after high profile gun deaths, they do not appear to be willing to do the same in the case of drunk driving.

Supporters of strict drunk driving laws like MADD consider drunk drivers as killers and they think that reducing the penalties faced by drunk drivers will only result in an increase in the activity, resulting in more people being killed. Critics feel that penalties for first-time drunken drivers should be increased because based on the current DWI laws, only 25,000 drunken drivers are caught every year which is not good enough.

The state of New Jersey considers drunken driving a mere motor vehicle offense unlike New York, which considers it to be a criminal violation. This should be changed and made stricter by keeping mandatory driver license suspensions, requiring interlocks for all offenders and making it compulsory for first time offenders to face 48 hours imprisonment.

New Jersey laws need to be made stricter to reflect the severity of a drunk driving offense, because driving drunk once is one time too many.

By Jordan B. Rickards
on www.nj.com

52-year-old George Clipperton of Rockaway was arrested for alleged drunk driving after he was found roaming the Rose Court neighborhood on the evening of March 26.

Rockaway Township Police arrived at the scene when someone reported a suspicious person roaming the neighborhood. The residents informed the police that they saw a man drive around the neighborhood multiple times. The residents reported that the man even knocked on the door of a home at one point, asking for someone, then left and came back an hour later. They described the man to be incoherent and rambling.

When the officers were speaking with the residents, a pedestrian stopped a police car to report a man driving erratically through the area.

The police officers found the man soon as they were still at the scene.

Clipperton was stopped and questioned by the police. He told them that he was looking for his friend’s house and was there to pick up his son, but he didn’t know the address.

While the officers were questioning Clipperton, they noticed that he was swaying and stumbling. They asked him about it but he told them that he had taken a Percocet about an hour before he left his house.

The officers issued him a field sobriety test which he agreed to perform. However, he subsequently failed in the sobriety tests.

Clipperton was arrested and taken to the police headquarters for processing. At the police headquarters, he told the police that he had also taken an Ambien an hour after he took the Percocet.

Several drug and alcohol tests were performed by the police and he was charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance. His car was also impounded.

News Source: www.NorthJersey.com

A new bill has been endorsed by the New Jersey State Municipal Prosecutors Association which calls for legalizing the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. According to the association’s president, the time and money spent on marijuana cases is just ‘silly.’

The Association’s board of trustees were the first of its kind in the nation to vote as the leader of an international group of law enforcement officials who were seeking the legalization of pot. The bill intends to allow adults 21 years and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and also grow as many as six plants. However, public use of the drug would be prohibited.

The board of trustees voted 7-2 to support the legislation, with only one abstention. According to the association’s President Jon-Henry Barr, the bill was introduced by one of its members, Nicholas Scutari, who is also the Linden prosecutor and state Sen. According to Scutari, he did not ask the prosecutors’ association for the endorsement but is pleased to get it. “As the primary prosecutors of these offenders, we have come to the realization this is a humongous waste of public resources,” he said.

Barr, who is also the municipal prosecutor in Kenilworth and Clark, said, “This is something a lot of prosecutors have been thinking but never talked about.” According to him, he has spent hours and hours litigating the issue of suppression motions because police usually retrieve marijuana without a search warrant, and all the hassle just comes out to be over a joint, which is just silly. He also said that so many other prosecutors also hold the same opinion. On the other hand, there were prosecutors who were so troubled by the vote that they quit the association. The identity of those prosecutors was not revealed.

LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition), an international group of police and corrections officers, prosecutors and judges that seeks the repeal of marijuana possession laws, praised the association’s endorsement.

According to LEAP’s co-founder, Jack Cole, it is wonderful that things are changing. “Finally, prosecutors are making sense,” he stated.

Cole mentioned that usually law enforcement groups oppose legalization bills. He feels that the bill will free up a lot of time for prosecutors and will help alleviate their job. ” This is the first (endorsement) I have ever heard,” he said.

According to the bill, the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control would be expanded to regulate the new taxable industry. Revenue from the taxable industry would be used to fund projects like drug prevention, women health problems and enforcement efforts.

Gov. Chris Christie intends to veto the bill if it is passed by the Legislature. He thinks that legalizing marijuana will lead to harder problems of drug use. Barr does not think that the association’s endorsement will change the governor’s mind. According to Barr, a growing number of Republicans support legalization, and even if the governor does not approve, it does not matter. With time, there may be a new governor who will be open minded, and eventually it will become legal. It is only a matter of when.

By Susan K. Livio

53-years-old Jeffery Layne of Veterans Parkway in Murfreesboro was arrested for DUI on Friday when police investigated him for a hit-and-run accident. Layne is a Rutherford County bus driver.

According to the school district, Layne is the driver of bus 110 for Stewartsboro Elementary School. He was charged with DUI after he completed the elementary school route. The district was initially contacted by Murfreesboro police at approximately 3 p.m. when they were investigating Layne in connection to a hit-and-run accident. That accident took place when Layne was driving his private vehicle earlier in the afternoon.

The district said that they understand that parents will be shocked and concerned about this troubling news, and the school district is equally shocked and concerned about the charges against the driver.

According to Rutherford County Schools, their bus service is provided by independent contractors, and in this case, bus 110 is owned by contractor Roy Dye who hired Layne to drive the bus. The school district always runs background checks on all drivers before they are cleared to drive. They also confirmed that Layne was cleared to drive in the beginning of February 2013. His record is clean and he has no other driving incidents in his record.

The school district also said that they do not have a full list of all the charges against Layne yet. “We are fully cooperating with police as they investigate the situation, as we have throughout the afternoon,” the district said.

According to a press release from the district, the school and the district’s transportation department provided information to police about the driver, who was in the process of completing his elementary school route. Police questioned him once he returned back to school. Eventually, Layne was charged with a DUI.

Parents of all children who ride bus 110 were notified by the school district via a message sent earlier in the afternoon. They were notified that the bus driver is being investigated. A second message was to be sent later to those parents informing them about the charge.

News Source: www.Fox17.com

On Monday, committee hearings were held where proposed changes were made in how first time drunk driving offenders are punished. Processes like how bail is administered and how the negotiating process for unions are done, also received committee hearings.

Drunk Driving laws

According to a new bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, first-time drunk drivers will be given the option to install an ignition interlock device on their car instead of losing their license. The ignition interlock device will test the drivers breath to decide whether the driver is sober enough to drive or not. If the driver is found to be above the allowed limit, the device will prevent the car from starting. Currently, installation of an ignition interlock device is required after a second or subsequent drunk-driving offense.

The new bill aims to soften the potential impact a person suffers when their drivers license is suspended for a long period of time. Most first time offenders have to face a license suspension, simply because they were unaware of the law, or if they made a careless mistake, which might be too harsh in some cases. According to the current law, first-time offenders have to forfeit their license for at least three months, making it impossible for them to even travel to work.

The new bill would allow a judge to compress the license forfeiture to only 10 days when the ignition interlock device is installed.

MADD totally supports the mandatory installation of ignition interlock devices. A Spokesperson for Mothers Against Drunk Driving cited statistics to show that installation of these devices could reduce the number of fatalities caused as a result of drunk driving by about one third. MADD also gave figures stating that a total of 164 people died in New Jersey in 2012 because of drunk drivers.

News Source: www.NorthJersey.com

According to a new bill introduced on Thursday by Rep. Jared Polis, states would be require to have legalized recreational or medical marijuana in order to create a standard that will help determine when a driver will be considered to be driving under the influence of pot.

This new law, called the LUCID Act, does not set down a specific benchmark for impaired driving on a federal level. According to Scott Overland, the communications director for Polis, the congressman doesn’t intend to pursue a limit in the bill. He said, “The bill simply requires states with legal recreational or medicinal marijuana to have a standard. It doesn’t set a specific standard that they must have.”

So far, a total of twenty states, including the District of Columbia, have legalized marijuana in some form. Colorado was the first to legalize the use and sale of recreational marijuana.

Polis issued a statement in which he mentioned that it has become vital that we keep our roads safe by updating our driving under the influence laws as more and more states have turned towards implementing regulations to treat marijuana like alcohol. He said, “The LUCID Act creates a single federal standard that will protect the public from impaired drivers and train law enforcement officials to effectively identify offenders. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to work quickly to advance this legislation and keep impaired drivers, no matter what impaired them, off the road.”

Apart from creating a federal standard, the legislation would also make a state eligible for additional funding, especially if it were in compliance with federal regulations. These regulations should prevent people to operate motor vehicles while intoxicated, by alcohol, marijuana or any other intoxicant.

The state of Colorado also launched a new campaign, hours before Polis made the announcement. This campaign entitled “Drive High, Get A DUI,” discouraged drugged driving and was aimed at reminding drivers that intoxicants like marijuana do affect their ability to operate a vehicle. It also stated that driving under the influence of pot can lead to charges similar to those faced by drunk drivers. In the state of Colorado, a DUI charge can cost up to $10,000.

While the new bill is under consideration, a debate continues which discusses how exactly drivers are affected who drive after taking pot. The debate also discusses matters which will make sure that only truly impaired drivers are slapped with DUI charges. With marijuana, the person is affected based on how frequently that person gets stoned. For some drivers, even a little bit of pot can make it harder for them to remain alert, while for others, the same amount of pot may have a different impact.

There is also no fully reliable method to test for THC, which is marijuana’s main psychoactive ingredient. Police and law enforcement officials only depend on blood and urine samples taken from the offender to determine how much THC is present in the bloodstream. The level of THC to be considered to be more than the recommended level varies from state to state. For example, 5 nanograms of pot in the bloodstream is considered to be too much in the state of Colorado.

This again depends on how frequently the user takes pot. An infrequent user could test below the 5-nanogram limit, but still be too impaired to drive safely. Another debate when it comes to marijuana impairment is that THC remains in the blood stream for an extended period of time, so a frequent user may have THC in their blood even if they took it a couple of days ago. Other studies reveal that the presence of THC itself does not increase the probability of a crash. There is still a debate going on when it comes to measuring and recording the dangers of high driving.

The Colorado Department of Transportation issued a press release that stated, “In 2012, there were 630 drivers involved in 472 motor vehicle fatalities on Colorado roadways. Of the 630 drivers involved, 286 were tested for drugs. Nearly 27 percent of drivers tested had a positive drug test, with 12 percent testing positive for cannabis.” According to these numbers, it is not clear who exactly was at fault when the accidents happened. The numbers also do not show which drugs these people tested positive for.

News Source: www.HuffingtonPost.com

ROCKAWAY TWP. – 34-year-old Clifton Gauthier of Sparta was charged with official misconduct and other crimes on Monday after he alleged tried to get a relative’s DWI ticket dismissed.

The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office charged him with official misconduct, obstruction, witness tampering and hindering prosecution of another. His record shows that Gauthier was hired in July 2005 in the township and was earning $108,525 annually. He was suspended after the incident. However, there is no information available to specify whether Gauthier was suspended with or without pay.

Both Gauthier and his defense lawyer could not be reached on Friday for questioning.

Police records show that Gauthier had a male relative identified as N.S. Gauthier who was ticketed for DWI in Rockaway Township by a state trooper on Feb. 9, 2012. When the trooper approached him upon his request, he suggested that he didn’t need to appear in township Municipal Court for trial because the charge was resolved.

The municipal prosecutor at the time, Denis Driscoll, contacted the trooper whom N.S. Gauthier informed that he did not need to appear in court. An investigation was started in the matter.

According to the Township Mayor, Michael Dachisen, Gauthier is a good officer who served several military tours in Iraq. The relative whom he allegedly tried to assist was either a cousin or an uncle. That was the only information available on the matter.

Gauthier was suspended after the investigation and is scheduled to appear in Superior Court next week. Police Chief Walter Ardin Jr. could not be reached for comments.

Gauthier will receive initial discovery on the charges. According to the case files, Gauthier committed an unauthorized exercise of his position when he suggested to the trooper not to appear on the scheduled court date so he could try to help a relative obtain a dismissal of the charge.

Gauthier faces a serious offence of official misconduct, the most serious of which can be a second-degree crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison upon conviction. He may also face automatic forfeiture of his public job and future public employment.

News Source: www.DailyRecord.com