HANOVER TOWNSHIP — Officer Erick Magley arrested Ms. Lea Piazza, 28, Wayne, for DWI on Thursday, March 12. Officer Magley responded to a one car accident and during the investigation into the accident, Officer Magley detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage.
Ms. Piazza was asked to perform field sobriety tests and was subsequently arrested and issued motor vehicle summonses for DWI, careless driving, reckless driving and refusal.
During processing, Ms. Piazza purposely coughed on Officer Magley. The officers asked her to cover her mouth and refrain from coughing on him due to the concerns over the Coronavirus. Ms. Piazza then stated “oh by the way, I have the coronavirus and so do you know”. Officer Magley advised his supervisor of the comments made by Ms. Piazza and more questions were asked in an attempt to gather more information.
Ms. Piazza stated she her boyfriend had the coronavirus and he was from NY but she would not provide anymore information.
The proper notifications were made to all necessary personnel and all three officers exposed to Ms. Piazza were self-quarantined until advised otherwise. A thorough investigation into Ms. Piazza’s comments was conducted and all pertinent people involved were spoken to including Ms. Piazza’s boyfriend and her comments were proven to be 100% false.
She would later admit this as well.
Ms. Piazza was additionally charged with causing a false public alarm. She was released pending her court date.
Editor’s Note: An arrest or the signing of a criminal complaint is merely an accusation. Despite this accusation, the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until he or she has been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
