Police say PIP driver in stop popped pill, possessed prescription drugs

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Closter man accused of popping a pill as a Palisades Interstate Parkway police officer pulled him over was illegally carrying a variety of prescription drugs, including 81 Oxycodone tablets, authorities said.

Photo Credit: *Courtesy PALISADES INTERSTATE PARKWAY PD*

Jerry DeMarco

09/26/2014 2:17 p.m.

Officer Jeffrey Lamboy stopped the 2006 Dodge Ram driven by 47-year-old William LaFrancois for failing to maintain a lane on the southbound PIP in Alpine on Wednesday, Police Chief Michael Coppola said.

As he walked up to the vehicle, Lamboy saw LaFrancois ingest a pill, Coppola said.

The officer ordered him out of the car, gave him a field sobriety test and determined that he was impaired, the chief said.

After LaFrancois was arrested, he said, police discovered him carrying the drugs on him:

81 pills of Oxycodone;
17 pills of Gabapentin;
11 pills of Methocarbamol
7 pills of Diclofenac Sodium;

In addition to moving violations, DWI, and breath test refusal offenses, PIP police charged LaFrancois with:

Illegal possession of Oxycodone;
Illegal possession of Oxycodone with the intent to distribute it;
Illegal possession of prescription drugs;
Being under the influence.

He was being held on $46,500 bail in the Bergen County Jail.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy PALISADES INTERSTATE PARKWAY PD

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