Lakewood, NJ man was driving drunk, distracted when he struck utility pole in Toms River, NJ
A Lakewood man is lucky to be alive after not only driving intoxicated but also distracted which is what led to him striking a utility pole in Toms River late on Friday night.
Toms River Police said they responded to a reported motor vehicle accident around 11:50 pm at the intersection between Route 9 and Cox Cro Road.
The driver came clean with police with what led to his eyes drifting off the road.
Hervin Moreno Lopez, 25, said he was driving down Route 9 when he looked down trying to answer his cell phone and as a result his vehicle left the roadway as he was approaching Cox Cro Road and instead jumped the curb, struck and drove through a utility pole, and then struck a second utility pole while heading southbound, and then finally stopped.
Police investigating the crash also found out that. Moreno Lopez was intoxicated at the time that all this happened as well.
Moreno Lopez refused medical attention at the scene, police said, and was then placed under arrest.
He was cited for driving under the influence of drugs-alcohol, reckless driving, careless driving, failure to maintain lane, driving without license-never licensed, operating with drugs in vehicle, open alcohol in motor vehicle, failure to possess registration, failure to possess insurance card, and a cell phone violation.
As a result of crashing through two utility poles, his vehicle sustained serious damage, and had to be towed from the scene.
JCP&L, meanwhile, had to come to the scene and replace the utility poles, and repair the damage.
The drunk-driving-distracted-driving crash is under investigation by Toms River Patrol Officer Anthony Mastrandrea.
In the age of ride sharing services, there is less of an excuse to drive intoxicated, not just to avoid getting in trouble but for your own safety and everyone else's safety as well.
"There are so many options out there with designated drivers and ride share with Lyft or Uber, it's so easy not to drive," Toms River Police Chief Mitch Little previously told Townsquare Media News. "A lot of people that drive -- they're under the false impression that they can drive and they probably shouldn't be because we always say being slightly buzzed is intoxicated and is impaired, so if you feel slightly buzzed you are impaired so you shouldn't drive."