Trooper Accused Of DWI Offered Lincroft Woman Money To Avoid 911 Call

A New Jersey State Trooper who is accused of being drunk and crashing into another car at the Garden State Parkway rest stop in Wall last month allegedly had a blood alcohol content that was twice the legal limit, according to a report.

NJ.com reported Sgt. First Class Michael Roadside, 51, of Cinnaminson, emerged from his marked cruiser looking “disheveled” and attempted to pay the driver whose car he struck $1,000 if she agreed not to report the incident, according to the woman’s account in police records obtained by NJ Advance Media Tuesday under an Open Public Records Act request.

Roadside also claimed to troopers that his slurred speech and impaired walking were the result of a recent surgery, the reports show. He was later found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.16 percent, according to the police records.

Roadside remains suspended without pay after the Oct. 26 crash, which resulted in minor damage to the car and no injuries. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, careless driving, and having an open alcohol container in a vehicle.

His attorney, Robert Ebberup, declined to comment to comment to NJ.com on the allegations but said Roadside, who has not entered a plea yet, was “a dedicated trooper for about 29 years of loyal service without any problems.”

NJ.com said Roadside had been working a construction detail before he rear-ended a white Audi driven by Kimberly Wilson of the Lincroft section of Middletown in his marked cruiser about 2 p.m. on Oct. 26, police said.

State Trooper Sgt. Matthew J. Durak wrote in a report released Tuesday that he “immediately noticed a very strong smell of an alcoholic beverage” when he approached Roadside’s vehicle, NJ.com reported. Durak also wrote that Roadside was “only partly dressed in uniform,” his speech was slurred, and his shirt “was unbuttoned and appeared to have vomit on it.”

Roadside reportedly said Wilson had stopped short, but Wilson said she had been stopped at a stop sign, according to NJ.com. Wilson also refused Roadside’s offer to pay her not to call 911, the report said.

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