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Sgt. Paul Haggerty ran a check on an occupied a Jeep parked at the far end of the Quality Inn lot on Polito Avenue late Monday and discovered that its registration was expired and the owner’s driver’s license was suspended.
The Jeep began to drive off when Officer Richard Jasinski joined Haggerty in stopping the vehicle, Detective Sgt. Vincent Auteri said.
The driver, Daniel McDonald, 25, of South Brunswick reeked of alcohol and appeared “highly intoxicated,” Auteri said.
As McDaniel spoke with Haggerty, Jasinki saw him try to hide two open beer cans that were in the center console, the sergeant said.
Once they had him out of the vehicle, McDonald “threatened the officers and at one point even challenged them to a fight,” he said.
They began to take him into custody when McDonald began punching and grabbing both officers, Auteri said.
Eventually, they got him to the ground and in handcuffs, although McDonald, “continued to be combative,” the sergeant said.
He remained belligerent in custody, threatening to kill himself and the other officers, Auteri said.
Police found several open beer cans in the front area of the Jeep, he added.
They charged McDonald with DWI, two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, making terroristic threats, obstruction and criminal mischief. He also received a host of traffic summonses.
McDonald was taken to New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus for a psychological evaluation before being sent to the Bergen County Jail, where he remained Wednesday morning.
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