New Jersey State Trooper Allegedly Involved In DWI Wreck While On Duty
BELMAR, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- An on-duty New Jersey state trooper wound up on the other side of the law.
The trooper is accused of drinking in his vehicle, driving while drunk, and slamming into a woman's car.
As CBS2's Jessica Schneider reported, dashcam footage shows the New Jersey state trooper explaining to a fellow law enforcement officer that alcohol played no role in a rear-end collision.
"I had prostate surgery. I'm on anesthesia right now," he can be heard saying.
The trooper saw otherwise. According to the police report, Sgt. Michael Roadside was out of sorts, smelled like alcohol, and even had his uniform on inside-out.
"I could tell that he wasn't right. He looked dirty and disheveled. His hair was all messed up," Kimberly Wilson said.
Wilson said she was attempting to leave the Monmouth Rest Stop around mile 100 on the Garden State Parkway on Oct. 26, when Sgt. Roadside slammed into her at the stop sign.
Wilson said Sgt. Roadside didn't call for help and offered cash instead.
"He said, 'I'll write you a check for cash right now for $1,000.' And I said, at least you call this in or you call it in, and I'm not leaving here until someone calls it in. But he didn't do anything," Wilson said.
Wilson asked him if he was a state trooper.
"He opened up his shirt to show me his uniform was on him, but inside out and when he opened it up, a bottle cap fell on the ground and I lunged down and picked it up in front of him," Wilson said.
Wilson called 911. Sgt. Roadside was arrested and later told police he had consumed nine beers.
Inside his police car there were allegedly two open bottles of Coors Light, and several more still in a cardboard case.
His blood alcohol level tested at .16, twice the legal limit.
Sgt Roadside's gun was taken and now he's suspended without pay.
Wilson meanwhile, is still deciding if she'll sue for her whiplash injuries.
"It's probably a good thing that he hit me and wasn't on the Parkway going 90 mph like they sometimes are, and fell asleep and maybe hit and killed somebody," Wilson said.
