State trooper accused of DWI crash in cop car had a pretty clean driving record

The New Jersey state trooper accused of drunkenly crashing his police cruiser into a car at a Garden State Parkway service area had a fairly clean driving record — with no violations in more than 30 years.

According to the state Motor Vehicle Commission, Sfc. Michael Roadside's driving record shows a 1981 violation for careless driving, a 1982 violation for speeding, and a 1983 violation for disregard of a stop sign. All of those were before he joined the State Police in 1988. No violations are on record for the time since.

NBC reports the tickets in the 1980s, when Roadside was a teenager, lead to a license suspension.

The record would only reflect violations that resulted in a guilty plea or finding.

According to the state judiciary, Roadside has no record of criminal or municipal violations.

Those accounts only reflect New Jersey records; New Jersey 101.5 couldn't yet ascertain whether records might reflect violations in other states.

Sfc. Michael Roadside, who has been with the State Police for 28 years, was suspended without pay after the incident on Monday afternoon at the Monmouth Service Area in Wall Township, State Police have said.

He was charged with driving while intoxicated, careless driving, and having an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle according to State Police, who responded to the accident scene.

Sfc. Gregory Williams told New Jersey 101.5 Roadside was on duty, and still in uniform when the crash occurred. He was immediately relieved of his duty weapon and taken into custody, State Police said. 

Roadside had been working a construction detail before the incident. Sgt. Jeffrey Flynn said he could not address whether a blood alcohol test was conducted or what any results of one would have been.

State Police said the incident is pending court and a parallel internal investigation is underway.

According to public records, Roadside had a salary of $105,743 last year. According to his LinkedIn profile, he as been with the State Police State House Security Operations and Policing Unit since 2013.