19-Year-Old Woman Arrested for DWI After Crashing into Uber Driver in Denville Township, NJ

Around 2:02 AM on January 26, 2025, Officer Zachary Lancaster with the Denville Township Police Department responded to a motor vehicle accident involving a silver 2008 Honda Accord and a black 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan. Officer Lancaster first arrived on scene and made contact with both drivers. The driver of the Honda Accord was identified as 19-year-old Araceli Riverahuaman and the driver of the Volkswagen Tiguan was identified in the police report as Kenneth Hubschman. Kenneth told the officer that he was driving for Uber and headed to pick up a passenger as he drove southbound on Franklin Road. As he was driving, his vehicle was sideswiped by the other driver as she headed northbound, and there were significant damages on the driver side of his vehicle.

Officers Kevin Pisano and Christopher Ordway arrived on scene shortly afterwards to assist. Officer Ordway made contact with Araceli as she was seated in the driver seat of the Honda, and she was with her friends in Newark earlier that evening. As he was speaking with Araceli, he observed that there were open containers inside her vehicle. She admitted to consuming alcohol earlier that evening, and Officer Ordway asked her to exit the vehicle so that Officer Pisano could administer field sobriety exercises.

Officer Pisano started with the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test, and he observed the lack of smooth pursuit and distinct and sustained nystagmus at maximum deviation. The second exercise was the Walk and Turn test. During the Walk and Turn test, Araceli failed to touch heel-to-toe on each step, turned improperly, and did not count aloud. The last exercise was the One Leg Stand test.

Based on the motor vehicle crash, her admission to consuming alcohol, and her inability to satisfactorily complete the field sobriety exercises, Officer Pisano placed Araceli under arrest for driving under the influence. During a search of her vehicle incident to arrest, the officers located multiple open containers as well as a large amount of cash. Her vehicle was impounded for a 12-hour hold according to John’s Law. Officer Pisano transported Araceli to the Denville Township Police Department for further processing.

At police headquarters, Araceli was read the Standard Statement for Motor Vehicle Operators, and agreed to submit breath samples. Her Alcotest results indicated that she was over the legal limit for drivers who are under the age of 21. After the officers finished processing Araceli, she was released to a friend pending her court appearance after she signed the Potential Liability Warning form on Araceli’s behalf. Araceli was issued the following citations: Operating under the influence, operating under the influence underage, reckless driving, careless driving, and traffic on marked lanes

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