Around 12:33 AM on September 24, 2022, Officer Dane Richards of the Township of Ocean Police department was on patrol near West Park Avenue and Kings Highway, and he noticed a 2019 Honda that had sustained severe front end damage. He began to follow the vehicle, and the vehicle made an illegal left turn onto West Park Avenue eastbound. The vehicle approached Route 35 and eventually turned into the Towne Shops complex on 2005 SR 35. As the vehicle pulled into a parking spot in front of the laundromat, Officer Richards initiated a traffic stop for further investigation. Officer Richards proceeded to initiate contact with the driver, identified as 34-year-old Nicole Fernandez. As he instructed her to step back into the vehicle and asked for her documents, he noticed that she had constricted pupils, droopy eyelids, and her speech was slurred. There was a trace amount of a white powder substance on her face and he observed an empty wax fold containing heroin underneath the driver’s seat. Based on the likely presence of heroin and her apparent state of impairment, he requested additional units to assist in a backup capacity. Officer Bernhard and Sergeant Orbach arrived at the scene shortly afterwards. Based on his suspicion of impairment, Officer Richards offered Nicole an opportunity to perform field sobriety exercises after they searched her vehicle. The first exercise was the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test, and Officer Richards observed a lack of resting nystagmus. The second exercise was the Walk and Turn test, and Nicole did not walk heel-to-toe, turned incorrectly, and took 10 steps instead of the 9 she was instructed to do so on the second set. The final exercise was the One Leg Stand test, and Nicole was swaying her arms for balance while failing to raise her foot in the proper fashion. Based on her erratic driving patterns, the damage to her vehicle, the drugs on her person, as well as her inability to perform the field sobriety exercises, Officer Richards placed Nicole under arrest for driving under the influence. After she was placed under arrest, Officer Richards searched the vehicle and found over 100 wax folds of heroin. Nicole was initially transported by Officer Richards the Neptune Police Department, because the breathalyzer machine at the Ocean Township Police Department was not functional. As the approached the sallyport, Officer Richards ran the metal detector over Nicole and she admitted to being in possession of pepper spray. The pepper spray was confiscated and later cataloged as evidence. After she was seated on the bench, Officer Richards read Nicole the Standard Statement for Motor Vehicle Operators form and she agreed to submit breath samples for testing. Officer Brian Bucossi with the Neptune Police administered the breathalyzer test, and Nicole’s results indicated a BAC of 0.00%. While this confirmed that Nicole was not under the influence of alcohol, they decided to bring in a drug recognition expert (DRE) to the Ocean Township Police Department to determine if Nicole was under the influence of any other substances. After they administered the breathalyzer test in Neptune, Nicole was transported back the Ocean Township Police Department. Officer Lynelle Scanlon from the Tinton Falls Police Department arrived at the station to search her, because no female officers were available at either Ocean Township or Neptune. No other contraband was found on her person. Detective Schoch, a certified Drug Recognition Expert (DRE), determined that further evaluation was not possible because Nicole invoked her Miranda rights and refused to answer questions. Once they took her mugshot and finished the paperwork at OTPD, Nicole was released to a sober individual after he signed the Potential Liability Warning form on her behalf. Officer Richards issued Nicole the following criminal summonses: -Possession of Heroin -Possession of CDS Paraphernalia -Under the Influence of CDS She was also cited under the following traffic summonses: -Operating under the influence -Reckless driving -Careless driving -Operating a motor vehicle while possessing narcotics -Failure to obey signs -Maintenance of lamps -Failure to make repairs -Vehicle in unsafe condition ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and consider supporting this channel (email us for more information). Donations will be used to acquire more public footage related to law enforcement activities. Our content is educational and in compliance with YouTube's Fair Use Policy because we edit several long clips into a concise story. This is similar to other law enforcement channels on YouTube. All videos and case documents were obtained pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. (P.L. 2001, c. 404). Defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty.

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