Hillsborough man is said to have obstructed police investigation
A Hillsborough man has been indicted for allegedly lying in an investigation into an alleged vehicular homicide on March 17.
Prosecutors said John Palazzo, 24, of Gemini Drive, was indicted for giving false information to police investigating an alleged assault with an auto by Clint T. Benson, 21, of Amwell Road in Hillsborough Township.
At about 3 a.m. that day Mr. Benson allegedly deliberately drove his pickup truck into a man, Richard Lachner, 23, of Raritan Township, on Woodfern Road, according to police.
Officers responded to find a man lying in the roadway.
Mr. Palazzo was indicted on the fourth-degree crime of obstruction and the third-degree crime of hindering apprehension or prosecution, the prosecutor’s office said.
The Branchburg Rescue Squad, along with Somerset Medical Center paramedics, took Mr. Lachner to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Trauma Center in New Brunswick, where he was treated for internal injuries, a fractured skull, a broken hand and lacerations over his body, police said.
Mr. Benson is the son of former professional football player Brad Benson, now owner of a South Brunswick car dealership. Clint Benson lives and works on his father’s 350-acre Rainbow Run Farm near Clover Hill.
Branchburg detectives said that, according to witnesses, Mr. Lachner had confronted Mr. Benson, who was seated in his vehicle, about reckless driving. After the confrontation, Mr. Benson allegedly accelerated his Nissan Frontier truck and struck Mr. Lachner from behind as he was walking back toward a restaurant on Woodfern Road, police said.
After impact, Mr. Benson drove away in a southerly direction on Woodfern Road, police said, and crashed his vehicle into a guard rail a short distance away near the intersection of Lehigh and Woodfern roads. Mr. Benson and a passenger were located at the second crash scene, police said.
He was charged at the time with driving while intoxicated, with tests allegedly showing Mr. Benson’s blood-alcohol content to be 0.20 percent, police said. The legal limit for presumed intoxication is 0.08 percent.
Police said Mr. Benson has been indicted with second-degree aggravated assault, third-degree crimes of assault by auto, endangering an injured victim, and possession a weapon (the truck), as well as possession of hollow-point bullets. Police say they got a search warrant for the truck and found 50 .22-caliber bullets in the center console.