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Courtesy: WOOD-RIDGE PTA
ONLY ON CVP: A chill followed by a wave of relief swept over Wood-Ridge police, parents and PTA members after a hit-and-run DWI crash occurred blocks from the site of the borough’s first-ever Trunk or Treat — an event that drew more than 500 children who otherwise might have been on the streets Thursday night.
Wood-Ridge police quickly made an arrest two blocks away of a 18-year-old driver who they said smelled of alcohol and pot, as well as his passenger, 19, for allowing him to drive.
Officers also seized a metal grinder containing marijuana, an electronic pot vaporizer, rolling papers and blunts.
Just blocks away, parents as well as their children got into the swing at the Wood-Ridge Intermediate School in the fanciful tailgating event, which included a walk though the school’s “haunted hallways,” activities in the gym — and, of course, treats.
Police prevented other vehicles from coming within a block of the fenced-in extravaganza, sponsored by the Wood-Ridge PTA and PBA.
“If it wasn’t for the Trunk or Treat, we’d have had so many kids roaming the streets for Mischief Night,” Detective Joseph Rutigliano Jr. told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “Children could have been seriously injured.”
A quartet of officers quickly responded to North Avenue and Fifth Street around 7:30 that night after a vehicle slammed into the back of a parked, unoccupied pickup, Rutigliano said.
They found the driver, Givier Bouhot (top, left), and his passenger, Eric Ospino (top, right), both of East Rutherford, on Fourth Street, he said.
Bouhot was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, DWI, DWI underage, careless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report an accident and driving an unsafe motor vehicle.
Ospino was charged with allowing DWI and failure to report an accident.
Both parties were issused summonses and released to their mothers pending court dates.
IMAGES: Courtesy WOOD-RIDGE PTA
Bouhot, Ospino (MUGSHOTS: Courtesy WOOD-RIDGE PD)
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