Driving Drunk into Someone Else's Backyard is What Makes a Subaru, a Subaru in Boonton, NJ

On April 11, 2023 at approximately 20:31hrs, Montville Police Department notified our agency via MIRS that there was a possible intoxicated driver entering Boonton on Myrtle Ave from Montville. While pulling over, this vehicle went slightly off the roadway before returning to the pavement. Ptl. Montemorano approached this vehicle's passenger side door and requested the driver's license, registration and insurance. Ptl. Montemorano was speaking to the driver and just finished asking her how many drinks she had had and the driver replied with two drinks. | requested the driver, later identified as Mrs. Elaine Mcdonnell, to exit the vehicle. Ptl. Montemorano stated that the driver still had not produced her documents. Mrs. Mcdonnell exited the vehicle and | directed her towards the rear of it. As Mrs. Mcdonnell began to walk, she stumbled and leaned on her vehicle for support. Mrs. Mcdonnell arrived at the back of the vehicle and leaned on it for support. Mrs. Mcdonnell stated that she was at the Black Rabbit Saloon in Montville where she consumed two drinks. While speaking to Mrs. Mcdonnell, | observed her eyes be bloodshot, watery and | detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from her breath. Our patrol vehicles were backed away from the Subaru in order to conduct standardized field sobriety tests and Ptl. Montemorano turned off her front emergency lights. Horizontal Gaze and Nystagmus Test: Mrs. Mcdonnell was placed in the starting position as | explained the test to her. | began to check her eyes and observed that her pupil sizes were equal and that both eyes tracked equally. | attempted to check her eyes for the clues of lack of smooth pursuit, distinct and sustained nystagmus at maximum deviation and onset of nystagmus prior to forty-five degrees. Upon checking her eyes, | observed a lack of smooth pursuit. Mrs. Mcdonnell began to move her head instead of just her eyes and I was unable to complete the test. During the test, | again observed Mrs. Mcdonnell to have bloodshot, watery eyes, swaying back and forth and | again detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from her breath. Walk and Turn test: For this test, | demonstrated the starting position to Mrs. Mcdonnell and instructed her into this position. | was not confident of Mrs. Mcdonnell's ability to stand alone because of her swaying, so | instructed Ptl. Montemorano to stand next to her. After a couple of attempts, Mrs. Mcdonnell was able to enter the best starting position she could get into (her feet were almost side by side). At this time, | explained the test to her and she was asked if she had any questions. Mrs. Mcdonnell stated that she did not, and she was instructed to begin. Mrs. Mcdonnell started with her right foot, missed heel to toe (over 1 inch), tripped on her foot, lost her balance, and nearly fell into the dirt that was along the side of the road before Ptl. Montemorano was able to catch her. While coming back to the testing area, Mrs. Mcdonnell nearly fell again. The test was terminated. On arrival at headquarters, | checked Mrs. Mcdonnell's oral cavity with negative results. | began to monitor Mrs. Mcdonnell face to face, uninterrupted, for twenty minutes. Mrs. Mcdonnell burped once and coughed once. Each time, the twenty-minute observation was restarted. After the last cough, | observed no burping, coughing, or anything else that would deem a restart of the twenty minutes. At this time, all portable electronic devices including my cell phone, BWC, radio, and MVR mic were removed from the room. Mrs. Mcdonnell's cell phone was also removed. | then followed the operating procedures for the Alcotest 7110 MKIII-C, which included utilizing a new mouthpiece for each breath sample. Mrs. Mcdonnell was able to provide 2 acceptable breath samples, and the Alcotest 7110 MKIII-C yielded a reported breath test of .17%. The breath samples were later checked with the Alcotest calculator and were deemed to be within the acceptable tolerance. ______________________________________________ All videos and case documents were obtained pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. (P.L. 2001, c. 404). Defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty. This channel is made strictly for educational and news gathering purposes. Not affiliated with any law enforcement agency.