Sparta woman charged with DWI after crash

Catherine Lagrasta, 44, of Sparta was charged with driving while intoxicated Nov. 22 after a motor vehicle accident on Route 181 near Mara Boulevard.

Police were dispatched about 12:30 a.m. and found two vehicles with heavy front-end damage in the northbound lane.

A silver Chevrolet Equinox driven by Lagrasta was traveling south on Route 181 when it crossed the double yellow center line and struck a silver Ford Focus, which was traveling north, police said. The driver of that car was taken to Morristown Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

While speaking with Lagrasta, Patrolman Eric Finley suspected that she had consumed alcoholic beverages.

She was arrested and taken to the New Jersey State Police Sussex barracks for breath testing. She refused to submit a breath sample and a warrant was granted for a blood draw, which was taken by medical staff at the hospital.

Lagrasta also was charged with refusal to submit to breath testing, failure to keep right and reckless driving.

The investigation is continuing, police said.

Assault charge

Jason Chapman, 53, of Lake Hopatcong was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and driving while intoxicated Nov. 4, police said.

Cpl. Craig Grauerholz was dispatched at about 3:20 p.m. the Shell station, 211 Woodport Road, on a report of a suspicious vehicle, parked in the lot. He found a white male with red hair in the driver seat sleeping.

Grauerholz suspected the man, Chapman, of being under the influence of an intoxicating liquor or drug.

After Cpl. Kurt Morris arrived, he spoke to Chapman and asked him to remove the keys from the ignition. He refused to do later and later refused to get out of the vehicle, police said.

Chapman attempted to quickly close his driver’s side door in a possible attempt to flee the area, striking Morris with the door, police said.

When Morris opened the car door and attempted to pull Chapman out, he punched the officer in the face, causing swelling and a cut on his upper lip.

Other officers broke the passenger window to gain access to the locked vehicle, and Morris used a pepper spray to help get Chapman out of the vehicle. When he was placed in handcuffs, Grauerholz decontaminated Chapman with water while he continued to swear at the officers, police said.

During a search, police found a small green baggie in Chapman’s pocket and an aluminum foil-fashioned smoking pipe.

At police headquarters, he also was charged with resisting arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while license suspended, possession of a controlled dangerous substance in a motor vehicle and careless driving.

He was taken to the Morris County Jail pending his appearance in Superior Court.

Theft charge

Callie Thurston, 28, of Hewitt was charged with theft Nov. 17.

She was accused of taking about $3,000 from her employer, the Nutrition Store, 270 Sparta Ave., between August and November.

She was released pending a court appearance.

DWI charge

Andrew Huyler, 28, of Newton was charged with driving while intoxicated Nov. 18 after a police officer saw his car failing to maintain a single lane of travel.

When Patrolman Andrew Spitzer stopped the blue Hyundai on Route 15 and talked to the driver, Huyler, he suspected that he had consumed alcoholic beverages.

Huyler admitted consuming two glasses of wine with dinner and was asked to perform field sobriety tests, police said.

After the tests, he was arrested and taken to Police Headquarters for processing.

He also was charged with refusal to submit to breath testing, unregistered vehicle, reckless driving, careless driving, failure to maintain lane and failure to notify of address change.

Huyler was released to a sober adult and ordered to appear in Sparta Municipal Court.