DOVER — A Dover man was charged with driving while intoxicated and obstruction after police said he fled from the scene of a two-vehicle crash on Grant Street and hid inside his home.
Officer Christopher Caraig responded to a report of a motor vehicle crash in the area of Thompson Avenue and Grant Street at 2:40 a.m. on Sunday, August 9. Upon arriving on Grant Street, Caraig found a disabled vehicle in the roadway that had collided with a parked vehicle, police said.
Officer Christopher Caraig identified the driver of the disabled vehicle as Raymel Matos-Terrero, 27, of Dover. According to police, Matos-Terrero was observed leaning over the trunk of the vehicle before he began walking away toward a home on Grant Street.
Caraig ordered Matos-Terrero to stop, but he continued into the home and locked the front door, according to police. The officer then spoke with another man at the scene, later identified as Ramon Matos-Feliz, Matos-Terrero’s father, who told police his son had been driving the vehicle involved in the crash.
Matos-Feliz allowed the officer into the home through a rear door after Matos-Terrero would not answer the front door. Officers searched the home and located Matos-Terrero hiding under a blanket in a basement room.
Matos-Terrero was handcuffed and arrested for driving while intoxicated and obstruction.
At Dover Police headquarters, Matos-Terrero submitted to breath testing, which indicated a blood alcohol content of 0.141 percent, according to police. The legal limit in New Jersey is 0.08 percent.
Matos-Terrero was issued the following traffic summonses:
- Driving While Intoxicated (N.J.S.A. 39:4-50)
- Careless Driving (N.J.S.A. 39:4-97)
- Leaving the Scene of a Crash Involving Damage to an Unattended Vehicle (N.J.S.A. 39:4-129d)
- Failure to Report an Accident (N.J.S.A. 39:4-130)
- Improper Display of Plates (N.J.S.A. 39:3-33)
- Failure to Notify the Motor Vehicle Commission of an Address Change (N.J.S.A. 39:3-36)
Matos-Terrero was also charged with obstructing the administration of law by flight from a uniformed law enforcement officer, a fourth-degree crime.
He was released to his father under the provisions of John’s Law.
Matos-Terrero had been scheduled to appear in Dover Municipal Court on the traffic summonses, and to make a first appearance in state Superior Court in Morris County on the obstruction charge. The outcome of those court dates was not immediately available.
Editor’s Note: A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
