After 2 DWI crashes in December, plea and warning from South Brunswick, NJ police

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — As holiday gatherings and parties kick into high gear this December, township police are pointing to two local crashes this month where drunk driving was a factor.

In both cases, a male driver was charged with driving while intoxicated, according to police, after rear-ending another vehicle that was stopped at a traffic signal.

“Impaired driving is a huge problem, and typically gets worse during the holiday season,” South Brunswick Police Chief Raymond Hayducka said in a written release on Wednesday.

In the first crash, 38-year-old Tanan Chansathit, of East Brunswick, was driving north on Route 1 in a 2019 Acura near Blackhorse Lane, when he struck a 2015 Honda driven by a 28-year-old East Brunswick woman.

There were no injuries and Chansathit was charged with DWI, Hayducka said.

In a separate crash, 54-year-old Mazhar Syed, from Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, was headed north on Route 130 in a 2011 BMW near Route 522, when he hit a 2018 Honda being driving by another 54-year-old Pennsylvania man.

Police said the Honda was then pushed forward into the rear of a 2016 Honda driven by a Dayton man,

Those two drivers were taken to a local hospital with injuries and Syed was charged with DWI.

The South Brunswick Police Department is among those statewide taking part in the annual end-of-year “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign, which wraps on New Year’s Day.

Over the past five years, New Jersey has recorded more than 35,000 alcohol involved crashes resulting in 618 deaths.

Last year alone, 23% of all motor vehicle fatalities in the state were alcohol-related, according to police.