Wyckoff PD: DWI Driver Stopped On Rt. 208 Illegally Entered US 9 Years Ago

WYCKOFF, N.J. – A Wyckoff police officer stopped a drunk, unlicensed driver on Route 208 who it turned out had been living in the U.S. illegally the past nine years, authorities said.

Jerry DeMarco

05/08/2018 9:24 p.m.

Keilor Mendez-Herrera, 28, who’d been living in Paterson after entering the U.S. from Costa Rica, was briefly held in the Bergen County Jail before being turned over to the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau, Lt. Joseph Soto said.

Officer Robert Schlossberg was on patrol around 10 p.m. last Tuesday when he stopped Mendez-Herrera for erratically driving his silver Honda on northbound Route 208, Soto said.

Mendez-Herrera – who smelled of alcohol and “displayed obvious signs of impairment” – told Schlossberg that he didn’t have a driver’s license, the lieutenant said.

After failing a roadside sobriety test, he was taken into custody, Soto said.

Police issued him summonses for DWI and failing to maintain a lane.

They then notified federal authorities after discovering his immigration status.

ICE, in turn, issued a detainer.

Click here to follow Daily Voice Garfield-Lodi and receive free news updates.