Suspected Overdose Led To Crash Into Woodbridge Home Depot: Police

WOODBRIDGE, NJ - A suspected heroin overdose resulted in a driver losing control on Route 9 South and crashing into a Home Depot store in Woodbridge earlier this month, according to police records.

The driver, a 28-year-old man from Monroe, whose name was excluded in a redacted police report, was traveling in a 2013 Lincoln MKS on Jan. 13 shortly before 11:30 p.m. when his vehicle ran off the road, police said.

The driver's vehicle then crashed in the parking lot and came to rest on top of “several articles of Home Depot merchandise and equipment.”

Woodbridge police officer Khari Manzini responded to the scene, locating a trapped person inside the vehicle that was “fully engulfed in flames,” per the police report. The vehicle sustained heavy front end damage and the driver was fully unconscious in the driver’s seat, with multiple responding officers unable to wake him.

Using fire extinguishers to control the flames, police officers then broke the vehicle’s windows, opened the doors and attempted to wake the driver, who remained unresponsive. Officers then grabbed the owner through the passenger side, pulling him to safety.

After it was suspected the driver was suffering from an overdose, officers administered Naloxone (Narcan), according to the police report, and the driver regained consciousness a while later. Manzini also located an empty wax fold, commonly used for packaging heroin, inside the driver’s wallet.

The driver was placed under arrest, issued summonses for DWI and recklessness and later transported to Perth Amboy Hospital by EMS personnel.

10 officers were treated for smoke inhalation, 8 of which were transported to the hospital, police said.