SPARTA TOWNSHIP, N.J. (Sussex County) — A Sparta woman was arrested on drunk driving charges after a 911 caller reported seeing her stumble in a liquor store parking lot before driving away, police said.
The Sparta Township Police Department said the call came in around 2:46 p.m. on Aug. 23 about a woman who appeared intoxicated in the parking lot of The Liquor Factory on Woodport Road. The caller told dispatchers the woman got into a gray Nissan Rogue and drove off.
Patrol officers located the vehicle minutes later in a driveway on Heritage Drive. Police said the driver, identified as Barbara Piechnikdobrowls, 64, of Sparta Township, was standing near the vehicle, visibly unsteady on her feet. She admitted to driving home from the liquor store but denied consuming alcohol that day, according to police.
A second witness told officers he was nearly struck by Piechnikdobrowls’ vehicle while jogging on Conestoga Trail. Field sobriety tests were attempted but stopped out of concern for her safety after she was unable to complete them, police said.
Piechnikdobrowls was arrested and taken to Sparta Police Headquarters, where she refused to provide a breath sample.
She was charged with driving while intoxicated and refusal to submit to breath testing. Police said she was released to a sober adult and is scheduled to appear in Sparta Municipal Court.
