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It began at 6:45 a.m. Saturday, when an off-duty borough police officer spotted an idling vehicle stopped in a traffic lane on Rivervale Road near Piermont Avenue, Sgt. Peter Martin said.
Responding officers found the driver and two passengers – including 19-year-old Ryan Shoop of Hillsdale – all passed out in the vehicle, Martin said.
Unable to wake them from outside, an officer opened the door and “immediately detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from inside the vehicle,” the sergeant said.
After the officers finally roused the occupants, the 19-year-old driver from Westwood failed a field sobriety test and was arrested for DWI, Martin said.
Shoop and the other passenger, also 19 from Westwood, were taken into custody, as well, for underage possession and consumption of alcohol, he said. Both were given court dates.
Police released Shoop to a responsible adult just after 8:30 a.m., Martin said.
A little past 9 a.m., they responded to the utility pole crash at the intersection of Cedar Lane and Hillsdale Avenue.
Behind the wheel was Shoop, the sergeant said.
A witness told police that Shoop blew a stop sign on Hillsdale Avenue at Cedar Lane and kept going straight into the pole.
Shoop was brought under police guard to Hackensack University Medical Center at Pascack Valley for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash.
Police charged him again with underage possession and consumption of alcohol.
They also issued him summonses for DWI, underage DWI, reckless driving, careless driving, failing to produce an insurance card and failing to change his driver’s license address. Hillsdale police also gave him a ticket for failing to stop, Martin said.
Shoop was given an April 2 date in Municipal Court to answer the criminal charges and summonses, the sergeant said.
PHOTOS: Courtesy RIVER VALE PD
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