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Man creates black ice using buckets of water to mask drink driving crash

Police said it took a half-ton of salt to melt the ice and make the road passable.

A MAN POURED water onto a freezing road to try to fool police officers into thinking the cause of his drunken car crash was black ice.

Twenty-year-old Bryan Byers, of Sparta, New Jersey, was arrested Saturday and charged with drink driving and other offences.

Authorities say he hit a guardrail after running a stop sign in a BMW early that morning.

Shortly after the crash, police said, 20-year-old Alexander Zambenedetti, a friend of Byers’, showed up in his own car.

The two men then dumped 5-gallon buckets of water onto the road to create black ice, police said.

Police said an officer on patrol in the area saw Byers walking in the road and Zambenedetti sitting in his vehicle with two buckets of ice in the back seat at around 2.45am.

Police say Zambenedetti wasn’t wearing a shirt despite a wind chill of 15 below zero. He was also charged with drunken driving.

Authorities say Byers confessed to the plan. They noticed skid marks were visible under the thin layer of ice at the intersection.

Both men are due in court Thursday.

Police said it took a half-ton of salt to melt the ice and make the road passable.

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39 Comments
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    Mute Fozz
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:07 PM

    Read the whole thing twice…and I still dunno where on planet earth this incident took place…

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    Mute Fozz
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:08 PM

    Sorry, I should add…yer man is from Sparta…so he’s a Spartan?!
    Stranger and stranger…

    310
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    Mute fact&ionlydealinfact
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:13 PM

    My understanding is that Sparta is located in the region of Laconia, in the south-eastern Peloponnese…it was a good try, fair play to him.

    129
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    Mute dj dangermouse
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:14 PM

    Maybe he was in a rush the get back to his garage and finish off the making his wooden gift horse.

    127
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    Mute Stefan
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:19 PM

    Im supriesed he didnt kick the cop in the chest while shouting “This is Sparta !! ” he was already shirtless

    166
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    Mute James Spencer
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:24 PM

    Sparta, New Jersey, USA according to non copy and pasted news articles….

    195
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    Mute Brian O'Shea
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:31 PM
    57
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    Mute David Thomas
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:35 PM

    Because it was fox news I still had to verify it separately

    113
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    Mute Stuart Keogh
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:54 PM

    Literally word for word lol

    55
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    Mute D H
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    Feb 17th 2015, 11:48 PM

    New jersey

    10
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    Mute Tony Skillington
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:07 PM

    If it wasn’t for the fact he could have killed someone I’d have called him clever…

    130
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    Mute Niall H
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:34 PM

    That is, hands down, my favourite journal article ever!!

    38
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    Mute Niall H
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:36 PM

    The policeman was perplexed when the Spartan accused him of coming into his house and insulting his wife…. That’s all the article is missing

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    Mute Niall H
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:36 PM

    Anyone who hasn’t watched the film 300, disregard my last two comments

    37
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    Mute Michelle Ní Dhubhlaíocht
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:06 PM

    How selfish, cowardly and stupid!

    95
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    Mute alwaysrightokay
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:09 PM

    Just aswell there was no persians around. They’d of been in for it.

    93
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    Mute Daniel Wilson
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    Feb 18th 2015, 1:24 AM

    *woosh*

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    Mute Daniel Wilson
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    Feb 18th 2015, 1:26 AM

    Oh Sparta right cheers Wozz ¬>

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    Mute Daniel Wilson
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    Feb 18th 2015, 1:28 AM

    I mean Fozz. Jaysus can we still not edit comments already…

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    Mute dj dangermouse
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:09 PM

    Glad he’s off the road.I despise drink drivers.Plus he’s an idiot with idiotic friends.

    74
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    Mute Alex
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:28 PM

    Buckets of ice on the back seat? I’d say he puts toast in his toaster too. Sloppy journalism again from the journal.

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    Mute dstaffx
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    Feb 18th 2015, 7:13 AM

    Maybe the buckets had been emptied on the road (as the article suggests) and the small bit of water that remained in them had formed into ice in the cold of the night.
    Therefore buckets of ice were on his back seat.

    13
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    Mute Martin
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    Feb 18th 2015, 8:04 AM

    I don’t think this article has anything to do with the Journal, they copied someone else’s homework another pupil called AP. Ah sure I often did the same myself when Sneachta O Dubhaithe always gave me his maths homework at 08:51 every morning. The Journal just get up earlier to cog homework.

    12
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    Mute Sean Macc
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:33 PM

    500kg of salt to melt a few buckets worth of frozen water? I’d hate to see how much salt they use after an actual downpour.

    51
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    Mute Deco James Connolly
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:42 PM

    Something happened far far away that has nothing to do with Ireland .
    Je Suis Ron Burgundy

    47
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    Mute Pharmyco
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:16 PM

    This is madness.

    37
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    Mute davedunne
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:27 PM

    This is Sparta

    106
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    Mute Tony_Kilduff
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    Feb 17th 2015, 11:41 PM

    Needs to be shouted….

    THIS IS SPARTA .!

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    Mute C Mc Gyver
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:15 PM

    Slippy f–kers! Hope they get put on ice for a while.

    31
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    Mute Brian McMahon
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:11 PM

    Lunatics.

    28
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    Mute lorna
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:40 PM

    it looks like a dogs face in the bucket

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    Mute Denis Reidy
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    Feb 18th 2015, 9:51 AM

    very retrieveresque

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    Mute CaoimheMarie☮
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:27 PM

    Where did it happen??

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    Mute The Guru
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:29 PM

    Sparta. I think it’s in Leitrim.

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    Mute Steve Wright
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:35 PM

    Nah Waterford surely.

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    Mute Al Beebak
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:41 PM

    You’re right guru. It’s just outside mohill on the road to drumshanbo

    29
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    Mute Ciaran McCann
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    Feb 17th 2015, 10:32 PM

    The guy wearing a balaclava in the buckets scares me the most!!

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    Mute Pat Cassano
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    Feb 18th 2015, 11:12 AM

    “What Seems To Be The Officer Problem?”

    4
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    Mute Sinead Nolan
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    Feb 18th 2015, 10:13 AM

    The most bizarre and irrelevant article I’ve read in a long time! Although I have to say I laughed out loud at some of the comments :-D

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