Cops: 14-year-old charged with drunken driving

Hackettstown police say they've charged a 14-year-old with drunken driving, marking the youngest suspect they've ever charged with the crime. The teen was arrested Sunday morning after police say they

News 12 Staff

Dec 14, 2011, 5:17 AM

Updated 4,704 days ago

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Hackettstown police say they've charged a 14-year-old with drunken driving, marking the youngest suspect they've ever charged with the crime.
The teen was arrested Sunday morning after police say they saw a Dodge Durango make an unusually wide turn.
Detective Darren Tynan, of the Hackettstown Police Department, says the boy smelled of alcohol and claimed to be someone else. The suspect allegedly presented the officer with the driver's license of Timothy Pruden, 19, of nearby Great Meadows.
Detective Tynan says, "It was determined that the 19-year-old male gave his driver's license and the keys to the car to drive another juvenile home from a party that was taking place somewhere in Hackettstown."
The arresting officer also found open containers of alcohol and an unloaded shotgun in the vehicle. Police charged Pruden with lending his license and allowing a drunken minor to drive.
The boy behind the wheel has not been identified due to his age. Police say he is facing charges of careless and reckless driving, drunk driving, underage drunk driving, among other charges.
Another 14-year-old boy who was a passenger in the SUV was released to his parents. Unlike the other two teens, he was not charged.