Lakewood man faces 10-years for beating ex-girlfriend, driving drunk with her in car
A Lakewood man who forced his ex-girlfriend into her own car at her house then assaulted her as he drove drunk and sped through the township last year has plead guilty to Aggravated Assault, Eluding, Criminal Mischief and DWI.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer announced on Thursday that Jorge Juarez Mendoza, 24, faces a a decade in New Jersey State Prison at his November sentencing.
The State will be seeking a term of 10 years subject to the terms of the No Early Release Act in connection with the Aggravated Assault offense and five years with regard to the Eluding charge with three years for the Criminal Mischief offense.
All sentences are to run concurrently.
This all stems from a motor vehicle stop Lakewood Police conducted on September 7, 2019 after seeing a car speeding and swerving in and out of traffic on New Hampshire Avenue heading northbound.
Mendoza at first eluded the Officers before crashing into multiple vehicles on Ocean Avenue and then stopped.
When the Officers approached the vehicle, Mendoza climbed out of the passenger-side window which is where police found an unconscious woman later identified as Marcela Alban, strapped into the seat.
Police then learned that the vehicle belonged to Alban and that she had previously been in a dating relationship with Mendoza.
The Officers detected a strong odor of alcohol and observed Mendoza acting erratically drawing their suspicions that Mendoza had operated the vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
Mendoza was arrested at the scene and transported to Lakewood Police Headquarters.
Alban was transported to Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus, where she was treated for her injuries and released.
Alban got into her own her earlier that day on Mendoza's demand while he was also threatening her children.
She asked for him to stop the car, but he kept going and assaulted her until the crash.
Mendoza agreed to submit to chemical breath testing at the police stations which revealed a Blood Alcohol Concentration of .14 percent.
"In the State of New Jersey, an operator of a motor vehicle is presumed to be over the legal limit for purposes of alcohol consumption when his/her BAC is .08 or greater," Billhimer said.
Mendoza has remained in the Ocean County Jail since he was arrested and charged.
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