Wrong-Way Tesla Driver Arrested for DWI in Hoboken

On April 13, 2024 around 3:05 AM, Officer Nicholas Protopapadakis with the Hoboken Police Department was working an outside employment job and he observed a white 2022 Tesla drive westbound on 4th Street and turn north on Garden Street (a southbound one-way street). When officers began to walk over, they saw her K-turn in the middle of the street and strike the curb several times. The driver was eventually stopped on 4th Street near Park Avenue. As Officer Protopapadakis approached the vehicle, he made contact with the 23-year-old driver and her passenger.  The officer asked for her license and Officers Andrias Bonilla and Josh Campoverde arrived on scene to assist shortly afterwards. When the driver was asked where she was coming from, she told the officer that she was coming from Lefkes in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. When she was asked if she lived in Hoboken, she informed the officer that her passenger lived in Hoboken, and she was driving her home. As he was interacting with the driver, he detected the odor of alcohol and asked her if she had consumed any alcohol. She denied having consumed alcohol, but they noticed several open containers inside the vehicle. Based on their suspicion of impairment, the driver was asked to exit the vehicle and perform field sobriety exerciss. Officer Bonilla administered the field sobriety exercises, and he started with the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test. During the HGN test, Officer Bonilla observed the lack of smooth pursuit, distinct and sustained nystagmus at maximum deviation, and the onset of nystagmus prior to 45 degrees. He did not observe vertical nystagmus. The second exercise was the Walk and Turn test. During the Walk and Turn test, she failed to follow instruction and took 30 steps forward, 30 steps back, while failing to touch heel-to-toe on each step. The final exercise was the One Leg Stand test, and she displayed a lack of balance and failed to raise her foot in the proper fashion. Based on her erratic driving, the odor of alcohol, the open containers of alcohol inside the vehicle, and her inability to perform the field sobriety exercises, she was placed under arrest for driving while intoxicated. She was transported to the Hoboken Police Department for further processing. After she was processed, she was released to a sober adult pending her court appearance after he signed the Potential Liability Warning form on her behalf. Officer Bonilla issued her the following summonses: Operating under the influence, reckless driving, wrong way on one-way street, and open container.

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