Westwood Police: Paramus DWI Driver Texting Before Crash Splits Pole

WESTWOOD, N.J. -- A 36-year-old drunk driver from Paramus admitted that she'd been texting before her car slammed into a utility pole -- splitting it -- and then rolled and landed on its side, authorities told Daily Voice.

Westwood police officers pulled the driver out through the window.
Photo Credit: *Jerry DeMarco*

There were no skid marks.
Photo Credit: *Jerry DeMarco*

Jerry DeMarco

12/21/2015 8:00 a.m.

Westwood police officers responding to the Lafayette Avenue crash just north of Washington Avenue found her "confused, disoriented and bleeding from the face and hands" just after 12:30 a.m. Sunday, Sgt. Scott McNiff said.

There were no skid marks and the utility pole was split in half and dangling, he added.

Concerned that the power lines "could come down at any point," the officers pulled her out through the front window of her smoking Infiniti, McNiff said.

She smelled of alcohol, he said.

Hillsdale Ambulance Corps took the woman to Hackensack University Medical Center, where blood was taken, the sergeant said.

Police issued her summonses for DWI, reckless driving and using her cellphone while driving.

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