What Happened
A Passaic man was charged with driving while intoxicated and assault by auto after police say he drove a 2024 Acura MDX into two Clifton police vehicles on Route 21 North near River Road around 4 a.m. Sunday, August 16, 2026, injuring an officer and triggering fires that consumed the Acura and one patrol car, according to News 12 Long Island.
Three Clifton police officers were in the left lane of Route 21 North at the time, working a prior crash scene. Two patrol cars sat in the left lane to block traffic from the scene. Cancel, 32, approached in the left lane and struck both vehicles. Clifton police reported all of this in accounts published by News 12 Sunday evening.
One officer was inside a patrol car at the moment of impact and suffered a head injury. Two other officers standing outside the vehicles avoided the Acura; one had to dive over a concrete divider to escape being struck. Both were uninjured. The officer who took the head injury was taken to a local hospital and later released, police said.
Cancel had two passengers in the Acura. One suffered a shoulder injury and was transported to a hospital by EMS. The second passenger was not injured. Cancel himself showed signs of intoxication, responding officers said. He was arrested on a DWI charge and taken to a local hospital as a precaution for what police described as very minor injuries.
The Acura and one of the two patrol cars caught fire after the crash and became fully engulfed in flames. Police said all occupants exited both vehicles before the fires took hold. The second patrol car did not ignite but sustained heavy rear-end damage. Cancel was also issued several motor vehicle summonses in addition to the criminal charges.
After his release from the hospital, Cancel was jailed pending his first court appearance, police said.
Location & Road Context
Route 21, also called Broad Street, runs north-south through Passaic County, New Jersey, connecting Paterson and the communities along the Passaic River. The stretch near River Road where the crash occurred carries significant overnight commercial and through traffic. Officers investigating a pre-existing crash in the left lane of Route 21 North had positioned two marked patrol vehicles as a protective buffer, a standard scene-safety configuration, when the Acura broke through.
This incident did not occur on Long Island, but News 12 Long Island reported it in the context of regional DWI enforcement coverage. Readers traveling the Route 21 corridor toward the Goethals Bridge and Staten Island connections should note that the roadway remained an active investigation scene in the early morning hours following the crash.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Cancel faces a DWI charge under New Jersey’s parallel impaired-driving statutes, assault by auto, and several motor vehicle summonses, according to Clifton police. After his hospital discharge he was held in jail pending his first court appearance; no arraignment date had been announced as of the News 12 report filed at 10:10 p.m. Sunday.
What This DWI Charge Means
In New York, the Vehicle and Traffic Law lays out three tiers of alcohol-impaired driving. VTL § 1192.1 covers Driving While Ability Impaired (DWAI) by alcohol, a traffic infraction triggered at a BAC below 0.08. VTL § 1192.2 is the standard DWI charge, requiring a BAC of 0.08 or higher. VTL § 1192.2-a covers Aggravated DWI, with a BAC of 0.18 or higher. Cancel was charged under New Jersey law, but the charge parallels the New York DWI tier.
A first-offense standard DWI conviction in New York carries a fine of $500 to $1,000, a minimum six-month license revocation, a mandatory ignition interlock device for at least six months after restoration, and up to one year in jail. A second offense within ten years is a class E felony, with fines up to $5,000 and a mandatory minimum of five days in jail or 30 days of community service. Refusing a chemical test triggers an automatic one-year DMV license revocation and a $500 civil penalty on the first refusal, independent of any criminal outcome, and the refusal can be used as evidence in court.
Assault by auto, the second charge Cancel faces, elevates the case beyond a standard DWI when a driver causes physical injury to another person while impaired. In New York, assault by auto in the third degree while intoxicated is a class E felony on the first offense. The officer’s head injury and the passenger’s shoulder injury both factor into how prosecutors weigh that charge.
Case Status & Updates
An arrest and a criminal charge are accusations. Matthew Cancel is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The case is expected to proceed through the New Jersey municipal or superior court system, depending on how prosecutors file the assault charge. Long Island Traffic monitors DWI cases that cross into regional significance and updates each report with arraignment outcomes, pleas, and sentencing results as they enter the public record.