Man Tried To Hand In Toilet Water For Urine Test: Police

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — A man scooped urine out of a toilet and tried to pass it off as urine at Hawthorne Police headquarters Thursday, authorities said.

Patrick DiCola, 50, of Greenwood Lake, New York was charged with driving while intoxicated and tampering with evidence, Hawthorne police said in a news release.

Police got a call at about 3 p.m. about a 1987 Chevy Blazer that was driving erratically on Rea Avenue Extension who stopped at a gas station at Rae and Goffle Road, police said.

DiCola was found sleeping in the Chevy while it was still running, police said. It took officers several tries to wake DiCola up, and when they finally did speak with him, he kept falling asleep, police said.

DiCola admitted taking heroin and a sleeping pill before driving, police said. Police found six bundles of heroin and five loose envelopes of heroin in the Chevy, authorities said. They arrested DiCola and took him to headquarters to be booked.

While police asked DiCola to provide them with a urine sample, DiCola scooped water from a toilet and told an officer that it was his urine sample, police said.

DiCola was released pending a court appearance, police said

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com