Driver Was High When Car Flipped on Route 208, Cops Say

A Hawthorne man was charged with DUI and reckless driving after a single-car accident on Route 208 Thursday morning.

At approximately 9:30 a.m., the Wyckoff Police Department responded to a report of an overturned vehicle on Route 208 South between Russell and Cedar Hill avenues.

Israel Amaya, 20, of Hawthorne, was driving a 2008 Smart Car Four Two when he drove into the center barrier of the highway and overturned the vehicle, according to Wyckoff Police.

A witness stated that the driver inexplicably swerved out of his lane and into the barrier, cops said, and Amaya sustained minor injuries.

Officers on scene reported smelling marijuana in the vehicle and also found a small quantity of marijuana in the car, according to police.

Wyckoff Volunteer Ambulance Corps transported Amaya to Valley Regional Hospital in Ridgewood where a blood sample was obtained.

Test results wouldn't come back for weeks, according to Wyckoff Police Chief Benjamin Fox, "but the driver admitted to smoking marijuana in the car." 

Lt. David Murphy and Officer Brenda Groslinger assisted in the investigation.

Subsequent to the accident there was a minor collision between cars caught in nearby traffic that stretched back to at least Franklin Lakes, according to Fox.

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