Police: 2 men face DWI charges for planning to hide drunk-driving crash
Two New Jersey men, who planned to cover up a drunken-driving accident Saturday by pouring water on the frigid roadway, were foiled by a suspicious police officer, authorities say.
When Sparta officer C.J. Grauerholz spotted a BMW standing in the middle of Sawmill Road in the wee hours with a dark-clad man walking back toward the vehicle, he stopped to investigate. The driver was bare-chested in the near-zero weather, because, he said, he had fallen and his shirt had gotten wet. There were two five-gallon containers in the back seat, and, under a layer of ice on the roadway, police said, skid marks could be seen, according to the Associated Press and the Daily Record.
Brian Byers, 20, was the driver in the original accident, police say, and the man the officer spotted walking in the road. By the time Grauerholz got to the scene, Byers’ friend, Alexander Zambenedetti, 20, was behind the wheel.
The public works department dumped a ton of salt on the ice to make the roadway safe. Both Byers and Zambenedetti were charged with driving while intoxicated, among other offenses.
They are scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.
