-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10/4/06 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom Advertisement
Cops: DWI charged after fiery Boonton Twp. car crash 3 injured as Pa. man loses control, slams into boulder along road
BY TEHANI SCHNEIDER DAILY RECORD
BOONTON TWP. -- A Pennsylvania man was charged with assault by auto and drunken driving after a fiery one-car crash on Powerville Road early Tuesday, police said.
Robert Silvia, 27, of Bethlehem, Pa., was driving a 2005 Lexus at an excessive rate of speed when he rounded a curve and lost control of the vehicle, which then hit a boulder at the side of the road and burst into flames, said township police Sgt. Dan Worts.
The crash occurred at 3:06 a.m. The vehicle had come to rest, still upright, about 10 feet off the roadway and the flames were about 10 feet high when police arrived, Worts said. Silvia and his two passengers already had escaped from the vehicle.
Police said all three individuals were intoxicated and the two passengers were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.
One passenger was admitted to Morristown Memorial Hospital for treatment of internal injuries and a broken arm and facial bones, Worts said. Silvia and the other passenger were treated for injuries and released, he said.
Silvia then was taken to Morris County jail with bail set at $25,000. He was charged with two counts of vehicular assault because of the injured passengers, driving while intoxicated, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license, Worts said.
Police did not release the names of the passengers but said they were a 35-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman, both of Rockaway.
The Boonton Township Volunteer Fire Department doused the fire. The Morris County Prosecutor's Office, the Boonton Kiwanis and a crash reconstruction team also responded.
Other accidents have occurred at the crash site, near the intersection of Powerville Road and Glenbourne Drive, Worts said.
"There's been accidents in the past (in that area) because of the curve in the road," he said.
Drivers exceed the posted speed limit of 35 mph and misjudge the bend in the road, Worts said.
The last serious accident there was about four years ago, and in that case the driver was charged with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident, Worts said
I do realize that, I wasn't just speaking of Rockaway. But, in this area (say Morris County) look how much has gone on since we lost Carla. That was my point. Maybe we are just more aware and sensitive to DWI and driving.
Its called media, the jump on the DWI bandwagon. This isnt news. Drunk drivers have been around for many many years. In time they will stop posting every drunk driver again. Just give them another subject to write about.
