PARSIPPANY — On February 25, at approximately 6:36 p.m. a motor vehicle crash on Parsippany Road has resulted in multiple summonses after police determined that one of the drivers crossed into oncoming traffic, causing the collision.
According Parsippany Police Officer Ryan Taylor, the incident occurred at the intersection of Parsippany Road and Adelpia Road. Police stated that the vehicle, driven by Lydia Michel, 36, entered the opposing lane of travel, leading to a crash with another vehicle traveling in the proper direction.
Upon arrival of Parsippany Police Officer Christopher Yi, he observed a vehicle stopped on Parsippany Road southbound and another vehicle, a black Nissan Versa, slowly turning onto Adelphia Road. The driver of the Nissan appeared to not be in control of the vehicle and was looking down in her lap as the vehicle slowly rolled into a snowbank. The officer positioned the patrol vehicle to block traffic and made contact with the driver of the Nissan, identified as Lydia Michel.
As the officer approached the vehicle and knocked on the window, Lydia put the vehicle in park and exited the vehicle. As she exited, she appeared to be stumbling out of the vehicle, was unable to balance, and did not have any shoes on. I asked Lydia to step to the rear of the vehicle and took her keys. As Lydia stepped around the vehicle, Officer Yi, immediately detected a strong odor of alcohol emanating from her person and her breath as she was speaking. The officer asked Lydia if she had anything to drink to which she advised yes.
Lydia was uncooperative and was not following the officers instructions. Officer Yi then asked Lydia if she would like to put her shoes on so he could conduct Standardized Field Sobriety Tests. Due to her inability to follow instructions and perform the test, Officer Yi terminated the test and placed Lydia under arrest for driving while intoxicated.
Ms. Michel was transported to Parsippany Police Station for processing.
Then Officer Christopher Ya responded to police headquarters for process. Upon arrival to headquarters, Lydia had already been searched by Ptl. Torres with negative results. While processing, Lydia continued to be uncooperative, screaming at officers for going through her bag while they were doing inventory and banging on the glass partition. She was then handcuffed to the bar on the processing table and continued to act belligerent. While Ptl. Christal attempted to read her the DWI Standard Statement in order to obtain a breath sample, she refused to listen to him and would not submit to a breath test. She continued to try to stand up and yell at officers and her behavior continued like this for about 20 minutes while we attempted to process her and inventory her belongings. She was eventually placed in a holding cell.
Her husband was advised and eventually picked her up at Police Headquarters.
Summonses were issued for multiple violations, including:
- 39:4-50 Driving While Intoxicated
- 39:4-96 Reckless Driving
- 39:4-51b Open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle
- 39:4-88 Traffic on marked lanes
- 39:3-29c Failure to exhibit motor vehicle insurance ID
- 39:4-50.2 Consent to take samples of breath
- 39:4-50.4a Refusal to submit to chemical test
The vehicle was removed from the scene by Eagle Towing.
Editor’s Note: The court’s rules require us to include a statement that states: The charges outlined in this publication are merely accusations, and the defendant and/or defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
