South Brunswick Driver Hit 70-Year-Old Woman's Car, Then Fled, Cops Say

Police arrested a South Brunswick man who they say was under the influence on drugs when he fled from the scene of an accident.

Ryan Tiedemann, 30, of the Dayton section of town, was charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Possession of a Hypodermic Needle, Driving While under the Influence, Hindering His Own Apprehension, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report an accident and numerous other motor vehicle violations.

According to a news release from Capt. James Ryan: Around 9:30 a.m. Oct. 13, South Brunswick police responding to motor vehicle crash on Ridge Road, near Julia Way, found a 2014 Hyundai Accent in the road.

But the officers learned the driver of the second vehicle, a 2006 silver Nissan Pathfinder, had fled.

Police determined that driver - later identified as Tiedemann - had been heading east on Ridge Road when his vehicle crossed into the oncoming lane and hit the westbound Hyundai, driver by 70-year-old Wilma Davis, of South Brunswick.

Davis was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick by South Brunswick EMS with chest pains from the crash.

Officers Gerald Sarno and Oscar Ayala soon found Tiedemann’s Pathfinder in a nearby office complex.

Witnesses told police the Pathfinder almost hit a mailbox as he drove into the complex.

One of those witnesses said Tiedemann staggered around the parking lot and tossed items in a sewer drain. Officer William Beard found multiple hypodermic syringes in that sewer drain.

Police found Tiedemann inside one of the offices bathrooms, flushing the toilet. They determined Tiedemann was under the influence the drugs and took him into custody.

They found a large piece of plastic tubing and heroin folds in his shoes.

Tiedemann was processed and released on a summons, pending his first court appearance.