Man who survived near-fatal crash busted after new crash in front of police chief

EDISON —A Sayreville man who survived a life-threatening crash last winter was hospitalized after another car crash this week — this time as the township's police chief watched it all unfold.

John X. Thasites, 21, was charged Monday with driving under the influence and possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia after he drove his Mercedes into a tree on Plainfield Avenue near Seymour Street, police said.

Thasites was arrested by the township's top cop, who said he first noticed Thasites throwing an empty pack of cigarettes out of his window.

Police Chief Thomas Bryan said Thasites drove erratically and veered into the opposite lane before crashing.

Responding cops said Thasites admitted using a "bag of dope” before driving. Police said they found two empty heroin glassine folds in his wallet.

Thasties, who got a bloody nose and facial bruises from the airbag, was hospitalized and released from Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Center in New Brunswick. He was released on his own recognizance. His charges will be heard in Edison Municipal Court next month.

Bryan said the incident "gave me a firsthand chance to see our officers handle this investigation with professionalism and compassion for this injured driver.

"I couldn't be prouder.”

Thasites was injured in a February 2015 crash when he was speeding during a snowstorm, Sayreville police said at the time. Rescuers spent 20 minutes trying to pull Thasites from his Mercedes after the out-of-control vehicle was hit by an SUV.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.