Early Saturday morning, a New Jersey man attempted to cover up a drunk driving crash by pouring water onto the freezing road. He thought he could con officers into believing he had hit black ice, causing him to slide into a guardrail when actually he ran a stop sign.
The Times-Picayune reported that Bryan Byers, 20, was arrested and charged with drunken driving early Saturday morning. His friend, Alexander Zambenedetti, assisted him in the attempted scheme and was arrested as well for driving while intoxicated.
According to authorities, the two men were in separate cars. After Byers crashed, Zambenedetti arrived in his own car. The two men proceeded to dump 5-gallon buckets of water on the road to attempt to create black ice. It appears they may have made multiple trips to and from Byers home for the water.
The NY Daily News reported that the 2001 black BMW belonged to a family member. The skid marks of the vehicle were visible under the thin layer of ice created at the intersection.
An officer on patrol noticed the two men. Zambenedetti was sitting conspicuously in his car with no shirt on, even though temperatures were 15 below with the wind chill factor. The 20-year-old told officers he had fallen in the snow and had stripped off his shirt.
Byers admitted to the ploy but Zambenedetti denied taking part in the incident. Both were arrested, released and are expected in court on Thursday. Byers was also charged with failing to report an accident and creating a dangerous condition.
It took Sparta Public Works employees a half-ton of rock ice to melt the ice and make the road passable again.
