Drunk Woman Caught by Off-Duty Cop after Fleeing Accident Scene

Around 4:05 AM on January 7, 2023, Officer Kyle Kampf with the West Long Branch Police Department responded to a call involving an off-duty police officer who had stopped a 2012 Volkswagen at the intersection of Cedar Avenue and Norwood Avenue. Officer Carlos Gonzalez, an officer with the Roselle Police Department, claimed that a driver of a 2012 Volkswagen had struck a guardrail on the Garden State Parkway. Since he observed the vehicle fail to stop, Officer Gonzalez followed the vehicle all the way to West Long Branch before instructing her to stop at the traffic intersection.

Officer Christopher Remedios with the Long Branch Police Department (neighboring town) informed Officer Kampf about the situation when he first arrived at the scene, and he also spoke with Officer Gonzalez about what had happened. Officer Kampf then took over the investigation and proceeded to make contact with the driver, who was identified as 21-year-old Lexie. While Lexie had denied hitting anything, Officer Kampf noticed there was front-end damage on the passenger side, which corroborated what the off-duty officer had stated. Since the officers detected the odor of alcohol emanating from her person, they offered her an opportunity to perform field sobriety exercises.

Officer Kampf started with the Walk and Turn test. During the Walk and Turn test, Lexie failed to touch heel-to-toe on all steps, did not walk in a straight line, took an incorrect number of steps, and repeated the test twice. The second field sobriety exercise was the One Leg Stand test. During this exercise, Lexie failed to raise her foot in the proper fashion, displayed a lack of balance, and never aloud as instructed. The last field sobriety exercise was the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test, and Officer Kampf observed a lack of smooth pursuit, distinct and sustained nystagmus at maximum deviation, and the onset of nystagmus prior to 45 degrees.

Based on her the witness statement from the off-duty police officer and her inability to adequately complete the field sobriety exercises, Officer Kampf placed Lexie under arrest for driving under the influence. Her vehicle was impounded for a mandatory 12-hour hold under John’s Law and Lexie was transported to the West Long Branch Police Department for further processing. At police HQ, the Standard Statement for Motor Vehicle Operators was read to Lexie and she agreed to submit breath samples.

Sergeant Brian Burton administered the Alcotest machine after Lexie agreed to submit breath samples for testing. Her Alcotest results indicated a BAC of 0.158%, which is nearly double the legal limit of 0.08%. Once the officers were finished with processing Lexie, she was released to her father after he signed the Potential Liability Warning form on her behalf. Officer Kampf issued Lexie the following summonses: Operating under the influence, reckless driving, and traffic on marked lanes.

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