Joe Cooney
CHERRY HILL – An off-duty
Camden County policeman was allegedly driving while intoxicated when he took
out a landmark sign outside a liquor store.
William Grasso, 21, knocked
down the sign outside Benash Liquor Store shortly before 2 a.m. Friday,
according to Cherry Hill police.
Grasso was driving east on
Route 38 when his pickup truck hit the curb of the grass median between 38 and
the south side of Church Road. He hit two road signs before crashing into the
liquor store sign, according to a police report. An alleged drunk driver early
Friday morning took out the landmark Benash Liquor Store sign at Route 38 and
Church Road.(Photo: Joe Cooney/Courier-Post)
The 67-year-old Benash sign,
originally atop the store, was moved to street level in the early 1970s.
"We'll see if we can maybe salvage one side of it, but I doubt it,"
said co-owner Bill Kohler.
Grasso was treated at the scene
for head trauma and bleeding, then was evaluated at Kennedy University Hospital
in Cherry Hill. The Hammonton man was held on suspicion of DWI.
He "has been taken off the
street and relieved of police powers as the facts of this incident are
ascertained," said county police spokesman Mike Daniels.