Police: Jefferson Man Drove Drunk Into a Mailbox

A Lake Hopatcong man drove into a Hopatcong mailbox drunk, police said.

Andre Hinton was charged with driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, failure to maintain his lamps, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report and accident and careless driving.

Police said they spotted Hinton driving on Hopatchung Road early June 5 with a busted right tail lamp, and his vehicle's license plate lights were out. Police said they pulled him over when he turned into parking lot and stopped abruptly.

Police said Hinton's breath smelled of alcohol and, after failing field sobriety tests, they arrested him. Police said a breath test revealed Hinton's blood-alcohol contest was .13 percent.

Hinton was issued a summons and released to a friend, police said.

But that wasn't all.

Police said the next morning they received a report of a damaged Carentan Road mailbox. Police said near the mailbox they found a red "front-right fender flare." Police said they checked it against Hinton's vehicle, and it was a match.

For questions about this report, email brendan@patch.com.