Bloomingdale DWI Stop Finds Child in Car, Sober Passenger Blew Into Interlock

A 28-year-old Passaic man is facing a stack of criminal charges after Bloomingdale police say he drove drunk with a child in his Dodge minivan, had a sober passenger blow into his court-ordered ignition interlock device to get the vehicle started, and was carrying a large quantity of unprescribed oxycodone packaged for sale. The minivan was reportedly weaving outside its lane at highly excessive speed, with smoke coming from the hood, when officers pulled it over on Monday.

According to Daily Voice, the driver, identified as Edwin Mejia, was required to use an ignition interlock device, a mechanism that prevents a vehicle from starting if it detects alcohol on a driver's breath. Police allege Mejia instead had a sober passenger provide the breath sample needed to enable the minivan to start, effectively circumventing the safety device meant to keep him off the road while impaired.

Officer Sami Zeidan reported smelling alcohol and cannabis when he approached the vehicle, the outlet's report states, and Mejia was unable to complete field sobriety tests properly. Mejia told officers he had not been drinking, according to the same account, but police said he showed signs of both alcohol and drug impairment. A search of the minivan turned up alcohol containers and cannabis, the report notes.

Oxycodone Packaged for Distribution, Police Say

Beyond the alcohol and cannabis, officers reportedly found a large quantity of unprescribed oxycodone inside the minivan, along with additional drug-packaging materials. Police said the oxycodone was packaged in a manner consistent with distribution rather than personal use, the report indicates.

Under N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10.5 and 2C:35-5, possessing unprescribed prescription opioids such as oxycodone with intent to distribute is an indictable felony-level crime in New Jersey that can carry five to ten years in state prison and fines up to $300,000 depending on dosage and weight, according to Lubiner, Schmidt & Palumbo. Police charged Mejia with possession of narcotics with intent to distribute, narcotics possession, and possession of open alcohol and cannabis containers, per the Daily Voice account. He also refused to provide breath samples once he was brought to police headquarters, resulting in an additional refusal charge.

Interlock Bypass and Child Passenger Add Separate Charges

Mejia was charged with circumventing an ignition interlock device, driving while intoxicated, and DWI with a minor passenger, since a juvenile was in the vehicle at the time of the stop. Under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.19, providing a breath sample for someone ordered to use an interlock device is itself a disorderly persons offense in New Jersey, and a driver required to use the device who operates a vehicle started by someone else faces an additional mandatory one-year license suspension.

Separately, driving while intoxicated with a passenger aged 17 or younger constitutes its own disorderly persons offense under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.15, according to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, punishable by up to six months of license forfeiture, five days of community service, and up to $1,000 in fines on top of standard DWI penalties. It remains unknown whether the sober passenger who blew into the interlock device will face formal disorderly persons charges of their own, and the dossier does not clarify the relationship between Mejia and the child passenger or whether child protective services was notified.

Arrest Comes Amid Statewide Sober-Driving Push

Mejia was stopped in Bloomingdale during the state's 2026 late-summer “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” mobilization, which launched on August 19 and is distributing overtime enforcement grant funding to more than 100 law enforcement agencies statewide through Labor Day. Bloomingdale is a borough in Passaic County, per the WRNJ Radio report on the campaign.

State traffic safety officials note that impaired driving remains a persistent danger on New Jersey roads. In 2024, 186 people were killed in crashes involving an alcohol- or drug-impaired driver statewide, accounting for roughly 27% of all fatal traffic collisions that year, WRNJ Radio reported. Nationally, alcohol-impaired driving crashes caused 11,367 deaths in 2024, about 20% of all U.S. traffic fatalities, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data. According to NJ.gov's 2019 Annual Report, New Jersey safety programs addressed child passenger safety alongside aggressive, impaired, distracted and teen driving. According to NJ.gov's New Jersey Strategic Highway Safety Plan 2015, there were 1,898 severe injuries—fatal or incapacitating—in impaired-driving crashes between 2008 and 2012, an average of 380 severe injuries per year.

New Jersey's Interlock Law and What Happens Next

New Jersey has required ignition interlock devices for all first-time DWI offenders with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher since Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation in August 2019, making the state the 34th in the nation to adopt an all-offender interlock mandate, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. More recently, New Jersey enacted legislation in April 2025 clarifying interlock installation timeframes and allowing certain DWI defendants to voluntarily install the devices before conviction to retain limited driving privileges, per BillTrack50's coverage of the statute. According to the NJ.gov New Jersey Driver Manual, voluntary installation of an ignition interlock device before conviction may result in a reduction in fines and, when applicable, a reduction in the period.

Following his arrest, Mejia was turned over to the Passaic County Sheriff's Office Hub in Wayne, according to the Passaic County Sheriff's Office. Mejia's prior DWI record that triggered the original interlock requirement was not detailed in available reporting.