Crime & Safety

Police: Drunk Driver Destroyed Two Cars

The following arrest information was supplied by the Morristown Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction.

The vehicles in a two-car accident on Ridgedale Avenue near the Route 287 entrance were destroyed Jan. 14, when a 22-year-old Morristown resident drove drunk at nearly triple the legal blood-alcohol limit, according to police.

Jonathan Ayala of Ridgedale Avenue was arrested and charged with assault by an automobile, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving. Police say his Mini Cooper rammed into the back of a Nissan sedan, which ultimately ended up on the grass median with a completely destroyed rear end.

Officer Adam Khoudja was the first to arrive on the scene at 2:45 a.m., police said. There, he saw the wrecked Nissan with three passengers, appearing to be conscious but injured, according to his report. The driver complained of neck and back injuries and was sent to , while her two passengers were treated at the scene but declined to be sent to the hospital, according to Khoudja's report.

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The front end of the Mini Cooper also was destroyed—its windshield shattered, its airbags deployed, the car leaking fluids—according to the report. Debris from both vehicles were scattered along the roadway, including the bumper of the Nissan, and the intersection and exit ramp were closed off to drivers, according to the report.

After speaking to the passengers in the Nissan, Khoudja went over to the Mini Cooper, where Ayala stood beside the open driver's side door, according to the report. Almost immediately, Khoudja says in his report, he could smell alcohol coming from the vehicle.

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When he asked Ayala several times if he was hurt, Ayala did not reply as he fumbled through papers, according to the report. The officer told Ayala not to worry about the papers right then and again asked if he was OK, according to the report. Ayala, in a heavily slurred voice, said he was, Khoudja wrote in his report.

When asked if he had been drinking, Ayala said, again in a slurred voice, "I had some beers," according to the report.

Shortly after arriving at the , Ayala was given a breath test, where he registered .21 percent, nearly triple the legal limit in New Jersey of .08 percent, according to the report.

Ayala was given a court date and released into the custody of a family member, according to the report.

For more information on this post, please contact John.Dunphy@Patch.com.


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