A New Jersey woman’s plans to meet a Tinder date ended with a totaled car, downed utility poles, and a DWI arrest after police said she crashed her Kia Forte while driving to Livingston, according to a bodycam footage report from Transparency Bodycam.
The channel’s host said the crash happened around 8:53 p.m. on May 5, 2024, when Sergeant Dominic Kaiser with the Hanover Township Police Department was dispatched to 97 Parsippany Road for an overturned vehicle that had struck two utility poles.
When Kaiser arrived, he found a gray 2023 Kia Forte overturned after splitting two JCP&L utility poles. The driver, later identified as Anne Liopmanis, was sitting on the front porch of a nearby home in front of one of the damaged poles.
The scene was dangerous from the start. Bodycam footage showed Kaiser quickly trying to shut down roads because wires were everywhere.
“I got wires everywhere,” Kaiser said over the radio.
A Crash Scene With Wires Down
Kaiser’s first concern was not the driver’s Tinder plans or whether the car was totaled. It was the danger around the crash site.
He asked for JCP&L, fire crews, and additional officers to respond, while also directing traffic away from the area.
“I need somebody down Whippany and Carney as soon as possible to shut this down,” Kaiser said.
Neighbors were nearby, and the driver appeared shaken, embarrassed, and confused about what had just happened.
“I’m sorry,” Liopmanis said. “I was just driving on my way. It just happened. I don’t know what happened.”
When she spoke with someone on the phone, she appeared to downplay the damage.
“I don’t think it’s totaled, Mom,” she said.
Someone nearby corrected her quickly.
“It’s total,” they said. “It’s total.”
That exchange was blunt, but the damage around her made the point hard to avoid. The car had not simply drifted off the road. It had taken out utility poles and overturned.
She Said She Was Headed To A Date
Patrolwoman Megan Prager arrived and began speaking with Liopmanis, who admitted she had been on her way to meet someone.
“I’m an idiot and I crashed a car on the way to a date,” Liopmanis told Prager.
When asked where she was going, she said Livingston. She then explained that the date had been arranged through Tinder, though she did not seem completely sure of the exact location.
“I’m on Tinder,” she said. “I’m not really sure.”
Liopmanis told Prager she felt like a “total stupid idiot” and said she had been trying to rush.
There is something almost painfully ordinary behind the bizarre crash. A person is late, distracted, worried about a date, looking at a phone, and thinking the road can wait one second longer. Then the whole night changes.
In this case, police said the damage showed how fast and dangerous that moment became.
Tequila, Weed, And A Phone Message
Prager asked Liopmanis whether she had anything to drink that day.
“I had a little bit of tequila around 5:00 p.m.,” Liopmanis said.
The officer then asked whether she smoked weed or used anything else. Liopmanis admitted she had smoked marijuana earlier that day, also around 5:00 p.m.
Another officer, handling the crash investigation, asked what caused her to crash.
“I was just driving up the road and I lost control of the car,” Liopmanis said.
When asked how fast she had been going, she estimated about 45 mph. The officer appeared skeptical given the damage to the poles.
“You sure you weren’t going faster than that?” he asked. “Cuz you took that pole out, came all the way here, and almost took that pole in half, too.”
Liopmanis then admitted she had been responding to a message.
“I was just responding to a message and I wasn’t paying attention, honestly,” she said.
That admission became part of the larger case. Alcohol, marijuana, phone use, speed, and a crash into utility poles are each serious on their own. Together, they painted a much more troubling picture.
Field Sobriety Tests Begin
Because Liopmanis admitted drinking and smoking earlier in the day, officers asked her to perform field sobriety exercises.
Prager first checked Liopmanis’ eyes with a Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test. Liopmanis told the officer she was legally blind in one eye and wearing colored contacts, adding that her eyelashes might make the test difficult.
“I got them done this morning,” she said of her lashes.
Prager acknowledged it and kept trying to continue the test, reminding her to keep her head still and follow the officer’s finger with her eyes only.
Liopmanis also seemed self-conscious about her appearance and clothing, telling officers she had not been “dressed for this occasion.”
“I think that’s the last thing you have to worry about,” an officer told her.
That was true. With an overturned car, live wires, damaged poles, and blood on her knees, appearance was not the issue anymore.
Officers Saw Problems During The Exercises
Prager then moved on to the walk-and-turn test, explaining that Liopmanis needed to imagine a line, place one foot in front of the other, and take nine heel-to-toe steps before turning and walking back.
According to Transparency Bodycam’s report, Liopmanis failed to touch heel-to-toe on each step, took the wrong number of steps, and turned improperly.
Prager then instructed her on the one-leg stand test, telling her to lift one foot about six inches off the ground, point her toe, look down, and count until told to stop.
The report said Liopmanis failed to raise her foot properly and put her foot down multiple times before the test was complete.
She had already been involved in a serious crash, admitted to drinking and smoking earlier, and admitted she had been using her phone. The field sobriety problems added to the officers’ suspicion that she was impaired.
Based on all of that, Liopmanis was placed under arrest for DWI.
Medical Concerns Complicated The Arrest
Liopmanis initially said she did not need medical help, even though her knees were bleeding.
“I didn’t know I had any until someone told me,” she said when asked about injuries.
But first responders still wanted to evaluate her, and officers eventually determined she needed to go to the hospital.
One officer explained that she could not be taken back while covered in blood and confused about where she was.
“She doesn’t know where she is,” the officer said while speaking with others at the scene.
When medical staff asked what day it was and where she was, Liopmanis said she believed she was in Livingston and Essex County. She was actually in Hanover Township in Morris County.
“I’m assuming Livingston,” she said.
A responder corrected her, explaining that she was in Hanover Township.
That confusion mattered. A crash victim refusing treatment is one thing. A crash victim who is bleeding, impaired, and unsure of her location is another.
A McNeely Warrant And Blood Draw
According to Transparency Bodycam, officers later transported Liopmanis to the hospital for a blood draw under a McNeely warrant.
Patrolman Brian Morrisroe contacted APA Lajuan Tucker with the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, and they got in touch with Judge Vincent Pirone. The judge granted the warrant, and the blood draw was administered at 10:58 p.m.
After the blood draw, Liopmanis’ boyfriend, Jeremy, arrived at the hospital to take responsibility for her. The report said Jeremy signed a Potential Liability Warning form on her behalf, and Liopmanis was later released pending her court appearance.
The hospital portion of the case shows how DWI investigations can move beyond roadside tests. When there is a serious crash and officers believe alcohol or drugs may be involved, they may seek a warrant to collect blood evidence.
That is especially true when the driver is being medically evaluated after a crash.
Citations And Prior History
Morrisroe issued Liopmanis several citations, according to the report.
They included operating under the influence, reckless driving, careless driving, traffic on marked lanes, obstructing passage of other vehicles, use of a hand-held wireless telephone, and delaying traffic.
On June 28, 2024, Liopmanis pleaded guilty to operating under the influence.
As a result, she had to spend 12 hours at an intoxicated driver resource center, use an ignition interlock device for three months, and pay $640 in fines. The other six citations were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Transparency Bodycam also reported that Liopmanis had previously been arrested for drunken driving in Hampton, New Jersey, on May 24, 2015. She was also cited for fleeing the scene of an accident involving property damage in Lebanon Township on November 15, 2020.
That history makes the 2024 crash harder to dismiss as a one-time mistake. It suggests a pattern of risky driving allegations that reached a dramatic point when the Kia left the roadway and took out utility poles.
A Date That Never Happened
The crash began with Liopmanis trying to get to a Tinder date in Livingston.
It ended with emergency crews, police, utility workers, an overturned car, a hospital trip, a warrant, and a DWI conviction.
No one was killed, and that may be the only lucky part of the story.
Liopmanis herself admitted she had been responding to a message and not paying attention. She admitted to tequila and marijuana earlier that day. She was bleeding, confused about where she was, and standing near the wreckage of a car that had taken down power poles.
The whole scene is a reminder that distracted and impaired driving rarely looks dangerous until the moment it does.
A date can be rescheduled. A message can wait. A car, a utility pole, a life, or someone else’s family may not survive the mistake.
In this case, the Tinder plans ended before they began, and the night turned into a DWI case that left the car totaled and the driver facing court.
Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.
