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Ian Smith, co-owner of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, was charged after an incident near Route 130 north and Andover Road at 12:25 a.m. on Sunday, on Sunday, March 27, Cinnaminson Police Chief Richard Calabrese told Daily Voice.
Smith, of Camden County, is running for Congress as a Republican in New Jersey’s 3rd District. His congressional campaign consultant, Steve Kush, told Politico that Smith was not drunk and that he passed the field sobriety test.
Smith has an earlier conviction for drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter for a 2007 crash in Galloway that killed 19-year-old Kevin Ade of Galloway, according to previous news reports.
Smith, who was a 20-year-old Stockton University student at the time, addressed the fatal crash in 2020 when he was getting attention for his COVID defiance.
At the time, Smith posted on Instagram saying that he accepted responsibility for the tragedy: “My actions caused the death of a young man and broke the hearts of an entire community, and that’s something they’ll never ever fully recover from. There’s nothing I can do except try to live a good life and give back and promote as much love and positivity in the world as I can.”
Smith pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charge and was sentenced to five and a half years in prison, according to news accounts.
This time around, he was charged with driving under the influence, refusing to take a breath test, reckless driving, careless driving, failure to observe marked traffic lanes and delaying traffic. The arrest did not involve a crash or any other vehicles, the chief said Tuesday.
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