Lakewood Police Officer Erik Menck talks about Taking DUI Driver off the GSP

ER tell me take us back to yesterday afternoon what's going on and what happens on the parkway uh I was driving Northbound on Parkway um got up on the parkway around uh Route 70 Exit and when I was driving up on the parkway I noticed that there was multiple vehicles uh driving Northbound uh with their hazards on I thought maybe it was like a funeral procession or something but I saw the vehicles were scattered all over the road and as we're traveling further north I just kept my distance and I saw a vehicle pulling off onto the side uh left side of the road dust was coming up and then the vehicle went back onto the roadway um so I thought maybe they were deciding to pull over decided not to maybe they were waiting for somebody and the vehicle then started drifting off to the right side went to the right shoulder and then went pretty quickly off back to the left start hitting some mile markers and uh some roadway signs um rail did they hit the guard rail at all uh later on I found out they did hit a guard rail prior to um eventually I was calling our uh liid Dispatch they actually contacted the state police uh patched us through a three-way call and they actually start said they got calls numerous calls I guess it started down south around exit 81 and we were probably in the mid uper 80s by now we're getting close to 195 uh the vehicles with this car hitting so many things they were starting to surround the vehicle and we were coming up to the 195 bridge and the vehicles nobody was talking to each other but everybody started surrounding the car uh because it went once again off off the shoulder and they actually started positioning their cars all around it and a couple people were yelling at their cars telling the guy to pull over and uh I want to make sure nothing happened because I didn't know if it was drug IAL reasons or what so they start pushing the car over to the side of the road telling them to pull over and eventually uh they stopped I took my ID out I identified myself to the other drivers uh just so they were aware that I was law enforcement officer then we uh approached the driver spoke with the driver and asked him what was wrong with him and I saw that you know his eyes were very dilated uh he kept like nodding out and I asked him what was going on he was like really didn't know what he was doing he was like I was trying to pull over and that changed my mind and I guess he was realizing he was hitting things and then from watching his motor skills and everything I saw that he was uh stuttering fumbling with things and I asked him if he had anything been drinking he admitted to me that he had U been drinking earlier today which was yesterday correct what did you say he had some beers what did he say yeah that's what he said he said I had some beers at home and um I relay all that information to the state police uh through our Dispatch Center and um we just there was another one of the vehicles that assisted and stopping one of the ladies was uh EMS so she started checking all his vitals to make sure that he was okay uh she said that his blood pressure was very low so we contacted uh uh monov also to have advanced life supports on standby in case uh he needed any additional medical attention how old is this guy believe he was out in the 60s he's in his 60s okay yes so did you were you among the the drivers though who basically helped to box him in all the vehicles were um I was within that whole same parameter going around the vehicle uh I I wouldn't consider myself being one of the you know lead vehicles that chose to do that type of you know maneuver but you were you were involved in the effort to try to get him to pull over yes that's correct uh I would say there was probably at least minimum six vehicles that were involved uh I I was amazed uh how well everything worked and especially with no Communications uh I know we have other officers here that have done that with people having medical issues and I got to say it was really amazing seeing that many people pulling together and uh really putting a stop to this possible tragic situation yeah that was my next question what did you think about the effort that these regular civilians undertook to get get this guy to get off the road I I think that was the most important thing uh I was amazed to see uh everybody coordinating pulling together um so many times when we deal with things people don't want to get involved and I I just think it's really important if you want to change in life you need to get involved people need to step up and uh take charge in their own lives and you know what's going on around them how dangerously was he driving how dangerous a situation could this have been definitely fatal I used to be a part of our fatal accident and this is a prime example of what would happen uh and what transpires out there day in and day out that people are in risk as well as law enforcement officers and even just people walking on the side of the roads you know it's very dangerous did he say anything other than you know he had been drinking earlier did he put up any resistance or anything like that nothing at all we left them uh seated in the car uh one of the people actually I believe it might have even been the lady that was uh she actually reached in through the passenger side and grabbed the keys from the ignition uh there was actually another gentleman in a pickup truck that was uh I think he was one of the most instrumental he was actually blocking and yelling out of the car for the guy to pull over and motioning and I think that helped everybody coordinate you know that they weren't going to stand by anymore they were going to stop this guy you know and there were definitely everybody was definitely putting themselves at risk you know especially right before the holidays you know never mind you know this is six people how many other people did drove by and there was a gil on the left hand side so that's why that's why the maneuver was able to work otherwise he would have went off the embankment and you know we're right by a bridge so very easily he could have went down the embankment to the next Highway down there so what kind of an example is this as to the dangers of drinking and driving especially this time of the year what kind of message do you have to uh it's not worth risking yourself life of neighbors uh if you feel the effects of alcohol you shouldn't be driving uh there's enough people that are willing to give you a ride you know paying for a cab or stay at your friend's house or wherever you are even if you go to the bartenders or the owners of a restaurant if that's where you're at I'm sure anybody would be willing to pay for a cab just to make sure everybody's safe and you know has a safe holiday