Extremely Intoxicated Woman Blows Almost TRIPLE the Limit After DWI Arrest in Elmwood Park, NJ

On October 22, 2023 around 3:11 AM, Officer Joshua Rodriguez with the Elmwood Park Police Department responded to a complaint of a possibly intoxicated driver in the area of River Drive and Market Street. Shortly afterwards, he observed a white 2010 Chrysler van driving at a slow rate of speed and swerving between lanes while headed southbound on River Drive. He activated his emergency lights to initiate a traffic stop, and the driver pulled over near the intersection of River Drive and Locust Street.

Officer Rodriguez initiated contact with the driver of the Chrysler, who was later identified as Jenny Amadornicolas. As he was speaking with Jenny, he detected the odor of alcohol and observed other indicators of impairment. After Sergeant Christopher Finn arrived on scene to assist, Officer Rodriguez moved Jenny’s car to a safe location inside a gravel lot so that they were not blocking traffic. The officers asked her where she was coming from, and she eventually admitted to coming from a bar in Garfield. She also admitted to consuming White Claws earlier that evening.

After Lieutenant Keith Hartmann arrived on scene, Jenny was asked to perform field sobriety exercises. Lieutenant Hartmann started with the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test. Following the HGN test, Jenny refused to perform any additional field sobriety exercises.

Based on her erratic driving, her indicators of impairment, the odor of alcohol, her admission to consuming alcohol earlier that evening, and her inability to adequately perform the all field sobriety exercises, Jenny was placed under arrest for operating under the influence. A search of her vehicle incident to arrest indicated the presence of an open container of White Claw. Her vehicle was impounded by for a mandatory 12-hour hold under John’s Law.

Officer Rodriguez transported her to the Elmwood Park Police Department for further processing. The Standard Statement for Motor Vehicle Operators was read to her and she agreed to submit breath samples. Following a 20-minute observation though, Lieutenant Hartmann administered the Alcotest machine. Her results indicated a BAC level of 0.23%, which was nearly triple the legal limit of 0.08%. Once they finished processing her and generated her tickets, Jenny was eventually released to a sober adult pending her court appearance after he signed the Potential Liability Warning on Jenny’s behalf.

Officer Rodriguez issued her the following citations:

-Operating under the influence (39:4-50)

-Reckless driving (39:4-96)

-Careless Driving (39:4-97)

-Traffic on marked lanes (39:4-88B)

-Unsafe operation of a motor vehicle (39:4-97.2)

-Driving without a license (39:3-10)

-Driving an unregistered motor vehicle (39:3-4)

-Failure to possess driver registration (39:3-29B)

-Failure to possess driver insurance card (39:3-29C)

-Driving with an expired license (39:3-10A)

-Open container (39:4-51A.B)

Court records indicate that Jenny had previously been arrested for DWI in Parsippany, New Jersey on November 6, 2022.

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