Off-duty officer arrests driver on DWI charge BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer An off-duty South River police officer arrested an alleged drunken driver who was driving his car in the wrong direction on a major highway. Police charged Dominik Mazurkiewicz, 26, of Wallington, Bergen County, with driving while intoxicated and use of force against law enforcement in the incident at 6:25 p.m. Dec. 6. Patrolman William A. Schmidt Jr., of the South River Police Department, was off-duty and driving in his personal vehicle at the intersection of Arthur Street and Route 18 in East Brunswick when he observed a vehicle being driven in the wrong direction on the highway. The suspect reportedly drove over a curb and struck a utility pole guide wire, then attempted to back off the sidewalk several times. After he succeeded to do so, he proceeded toward a bus and narrowly avoided hitting it, according to the police report. After observing this, the off-duty officer proceeded when the traffic light turned green and pulled into the parking lot of the American Harvest property, near where the suspect vehicle had stopped on the highway. Schmidt got out and ran toward the suspect vehicle, which, he said, was now proceeding slowly in the wrong direction. Schmidt said he knocked on the driver's side window in an attempt to get Mazurkiewicz to stop driving. At that point, a nearby motorist advised Schmidt that Mazurkiewicz had struck his vehicle. Schmidt pulled out his badge and identified himself as a police officer and ordered Mazurkiewicz to turn the vehicle off. When the suspect allegedly ignored that directive, Schmidt opened the door himself and put the vehicle in park. As he removed the keys, he reported, the suspect pushed him out of the way and exited the vehicle. The officer then ordered Mazurkiewicz to stay where he was until East Brunswick police arrived, but the suspect allegedly reacted by lunging at Schmidt. The officer advised Mazurkiewicz that he was under arrest, and placed him in a compliance hold, securing him on the ground until township police arrived. Mazurkiewicz, who reportedly sustained a slight abrasion to his forehead in the incident, was then turned over to the East Brunswick Police Department.