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SOUTH BRUNSWICK: DWI charged in hit and run

By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
   Police charged an East Brunswick man with driving while intoxicated following an accident at the intersection of Route 535 and Davidson Mill Road Dec. 20.
   According to police, Chandresh Chitalia, 47, of East Brunswick was charged with drunk driving, assault by auto, leaving the scene of an accident and failure to render aid to an injured individual after East Brunswick police stopped his 1997 Nissan Altima on Route 535 and Rues Lane.
   Police said that Mr. Chitalia allegedly struck Christopher Kobi, 39, at about 8:25 p.m. while he was stopped on his Harley Davidson motorcycle at the intersection of Route 535 and Davidson Mill Road.
   The impact threw Mr. Kobi off of the motorcycle and onto the road, where police reported finding him in a semi-conscious state.
   Mr. Kobi was transported by the Monmouth Junction first Aid Squad to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for treatment of non-life threatening injuries, police said.
   According to witnesses, Mr. Chitalia stopped after striking Mr. Kobi and tried to free the motorcycle from the front of his vehicle. After he was unable to do that, witnesses said, he took off north on Route 535.
   East Brunswick police noticed his vehicle with sparks coming from underneath on Route 535. Officers in that town arrested him on the drunk driving charge and transported him to South Brunswick Police.
   The sparks were caused by the motorcycle, which was still lodged underneath Mr. Chitalia’s vehicle, according to police.
   According to police, Mr. Chitalia refused a breathalyzer test and the other charges were filed.
   He was lodged at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick on $75,000 bail, according to police.