Holiday weekend
yields arrests in
By clare MARie celano
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD — While many residents slept, recovering from whatever their Labor Day weekend entailed, borough police were out making arrests.
According to Sgt. Tim Jablonski, who serves as the police department’s Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) coordinator, the department was able to put additional patrol cars, categorized as a DWI patrol, on borough streets over the holiday weekend.
He said patrolmen Keith Bailey and Mark Garahan made up the team which patrolled the borough between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the holiday weekend.
The team, along with regular patrol officer Richard Schwerthoffer, arrested and charged four men with DWI between Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.
Although traffic was not unusually heavy on Aug. 28, 29 or 30, according to Jablonski, a nine-hour period between the afternoon of Aug. 31 and the early morning hours of Sept. 1 saw the arrest of four men who were charged with DWI.
After investigating a motor vehicle accident that occurred at the intersection of Conover and Institute streets at 5:58 p.m. Aug. 31, Glenn Barry Mott, 50, of Freehold, Garahan charged Mott with driving while intoxicated. Mott was processed and released.
In another incident, a vehicle was stopped at the intersection of West Main and South streets at 11:48 p.m. Aug. 31 by Bailey, who observed the vehicle being driven in an erratic manner as it was exiting the Market Yard parking lot. Police said Jesus Esquivel, 36, of Howell, was charged with driving while intoxicated. He was processed and released.
Two hours later, at 1:11 a.m. Sept. 1, Bailey observed a car speeding out of the Market Yard parking lot. The officer followed the vehicle as the driver attempted to elude Bailey, police said. After the car was stopped at the intersection of McLean and South streets, William Karasinski, 38, of Freehold, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated. He was processed and released.
About one hour later, Garahan found Edwin Vega, 34, of South Amboy, driving his vehicle in an erratic manner on West Main Street and failing to keep to the right. With the aid of Schwerthoffer, the two officers charged Vega with driving while intoxicated. He was processed and released.
According to Jablonski, suspects who are charged with DWI must be released to a responsible adult. They are not allowed to leave police headquarters unless someone comes to pick them up and is willing to assume responsible custody for them.
"If not, they spend 12 hours with us in the police station," Jablonski explained. "We must protect the person who has been driving drunk, as well as everyone else."
The sergeant also said the suspect’s vehicle is always towed and impounded and is not released until 12 hours later for the safety of the driver and everyone else with whom he may come in contact.
Penalties for driving while intoxicated can range from losing a driver’s license for a 90-day minimum up to 10 years or more, depending on the drivers’ previous history of offenses.