DWI charge comes for fire chief in Jan. 6 accident

DWI charge comes for fire chief in Jan. 6 accident

Blood test indicates

he was intoxicated

at time of crash

By Sherry conohan

Staff Writer

EATONTOWN — The borough fire chief was charged with driving while intoxicated at the time of an automobile accident in which his fire department vehicle, an SUV, was totaled.

Christopher W. Kohler, who became fire chief on Jan. 1, also was charged with careless driving in connection with the three-vehicle accident that occurred at the intersection of routes 35 and 36 at 7:56 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 6.

Kohler’s blood alcohol content, based on blood drawn by a nurse at Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, after the accident and analyzed in a N.J. State Police laboratory, was 0.148, according to the police report on the crash.

Patrolman John T. Fay of the Eatontown Police Department Traffic Safety Division, who investigated the accident and prepared a 35-page report on it, noted that Kohler’s blood-alcohol level would have actually been higher at the time of the crash, but, he said, due to the one hour and 45-minute delay in obtaining the blood, the level had diminished slightly.

Fay said that after checking on each of the drivers and the occupants of their vehicles, and turning them over to Emergency Medical Services personnel at the accident scene, he began to collect the credentials of each driver along with an oral statement of what had taken place.

"While speaking with … Christopher Kohler, it was observed that his eyes were both watery and bloodshot, his hand movement was both slow and shaky, his speech was slightly slurred, and there was a distinct odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath," Fay wrote in his report.

"When asked if he had been drinking, Mr. Kohler told me that he had a couple of beers during the day while watching the (football) games on television," Fay said. "Mr. Kohler quickly added that he did not think that he had too many and that what he drank should not have affected his driving."

Kohler’s case has been transferred from Eatontown to the Little Silver Municipal Court for a hearing. That hearing has been scheduled for March 21.

Kohler, who is 32 and a resident of Southbrook Drive, was rushing to the Sheraton Hotel on Route 35 in response to a report of people trapped in an elevator when the accident happened. He was traveling southbound on Route 35 and his emergency lights and siren were activated, according to witness accounts, the police report said. The report said the traffic lights for Route 35 were red and the traffic lights for Route 36 were green.

The report said that as Kohler drove his red 1999 Chevy Tahoe fire chief’s vehicle through the intersection after stopping in the center to check for traffic, it was struck broadside, on the right rear side, by a pewter 2001 Chevrolet van driven by William S. MacStudy, 66, of Shrewsbury Avenue in Oceanport, who was driving eastbound on Route 36 and had a green light. He was charged with failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.

The impact of the collision caused Kohler to lose control of his vehicle, which spun around 360 degrees, jumped a concrete island in the middle of the highway, knocked down a traffic light stanchion, and landed on top of a blue 1991 Honda Accord driven by Christopher C. Newman, 23, of Marcellus Avenue in Manasquan. Newman had been waiting in the inside left-turn lane on the northbound side of Route 35 to turn west onto Route 36, the report said.

It was raining heavily at the time of the crash, according to the police report.

Kohler did not return any calls. His lawyer, James Fagen, whose office is in Freehold, said he couldn’t analyze the case because he hadn’t received the police report yet. Fagen said he understood his client was driving down Route 35 with his lights on and siren activated when the accident happened.

Fagen said Kohler responded to the fire call from home and had not been out partying. "Apparently he’s a reputable member of the community," Fagen said. "He’s a diligent worker."

Borough Business Administrator Michael L. Trotta said that, as of now, Kohler is not driving any fire apparatus.

"He’s doing that on a voluntary basis until the time the issue is resolved," Trotta said.

Asked if Kohler would be allowed to drive any fire department vehicles in the future — the Borough Council plans to replace the fire chief’s SUV that was totaled in the accident with a larger Chevrolet Suburban — Trotta replied, "If he has a driver’s license, there’s no problem. If he’s found guilty, we will deal with that then. We’ll have to sit down with him as a department head and see what the ramifications are. At this point, he’s just been charged."

The police report quoted Kohler as saying that as he approached the intersection of Route 36, he stopped and looked to his left at the westbound traffic and, after seeing it was clear, proceeded across the westbound lanes.

Kohler said he stopped again in the center of the intersection and looked to his right at the eastbound traffic, according to the police report. Kohler said he saw one vehicle stopped in the inner lane and one stopped in the outer lane, and believed he was clear to proceed across the eastbound lanes. As he did, he was hit, according to the report.

"Mr. Kohler states he did not see the vehicle that hit him or even where it came from," the report said. "Mr. Kohler continued by saying that after he got hit, he was thrown across to the passenger’s side of the vehicle and does not remember what happened after that."

MacStudy said that he never saw the emergency lights or heard the siren of the fire chief’s vehicle and didn’t see the car until it was right in front of him, and he was unable to stop, according to the report. His windows were rolled up, but he did not have his radio on at the time of the collision, the report said.

Fay said the heavy rain may have caused a slight view obstruction or hearing impairment for MacStudy, but not enough that it would have totally obscured the emergency vehicle from being seen or heard, so MacStudy was cited.

One of the witnesses quoted in the report, Kelly Ferrante of Wall, who was stopped on Route 35 in the middle southbound lane for the red traffic signal, said Kohler stopped prior to entering the intersection and crossing the westbound lanes of Route 36, and stopped again in the middle. She said the eastbound traffic on Route 36 did not appear to be stopping.

"Ms. Ferrante then states that she observed the fire chief proceed into the lanes of the eastbound traffic and get struck by a van," the report said. "Ms. Ferrante stated that it was clear to her that the vehicles traveling on State Highway 36 east were not stopping and that she could not understand why the fire chief would even attempt to go across those lanes of traffic."

Fay, in his report, said that the heavy rain may have contributed to "a slight view obstruction" for Kohler.

"In addition to the rain, the level of alcohol that was in Mr. Kohler’s blood would be a definite impairment on the way Mr. Kohler would both perceive and react in any situation," Fay wrote.

He said he charged Kohler with careless driving for not using due caution while attempting to cross the intersection.