Police in Sparta NJ recently apprehended a suspect accused of driving drunk and leaving the scene of an accident.

Sparta police officers responded to a report of a two-car collision during rush-hour traffic on Lafayette Road in Sparta, New Jersey. When officers got to the scene, they interviewed the driver of the vehicle which was struck.

The driver informed the officers that she had been hit by a white Jaguar. She said that the driver of the Jaguar crashed into her car and then fled the scene. According to the victim, the suspect drove toward Route 15.

Officers immediately began to canvass the area in search of the Jaguar. A short time later, an officer saw the Jaguar headed in the direction of Route 15. The officer had little difficulty identifying the car because it was smoking and had suffered severe damage to its front-end.

According to police, the suspect tried to elude police officers by jumping a curb onto the highway. However, the damage to the car was significant enough that the driver was unable to maintain control for very long; the vehicle hit several signs before it became fully disabled and stranded on the highway.

Officers at the scene removed the driver from the vehicle. The suspect, a 40-year-old woman from Hampton, was then administered a series of field sobriety tests. When she reportedly failed the tests, officers placed her under arrest.

The suspect was taken into custody and charged with several offenses, including driving while intoxicated (DWI), reckless driving, careless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report an accident, and failure to keep right.

The suspect was later released from custody with a pending court date.

For more information about this case, view the NJ.com article entitled “Sparta Cops: Drunk Driver Hit Car, Fled, Hit a Bunch of Street Signs as Cops Approached.”