PHILIPSBURG--Aruba's chief prosecutor will decide on what, if any, punishment should be handed down to St. Maarten-based prosecutor J.B.D., who caused an accident last week.

Prosecutor Rienk Mud said Monday that a third-party adjudicator was necessary to "secure enough distance" to remove any belief of irregularities in the investigation of D.'s crash in Middle Region 10 days ago.

An allegedly-intoxicated D. struck another car with his in Middle Region and then left the scene before authorities had arrived to investigate. He then reportedly refused to stop when police who were controlling cars in the area ordered him to do so.

Police took him into custody for questioning and he was kept at the police station for about five hours that evening.

Mud confirmed the crash, but said D. had passed a police-administered sobriety test. The Police Traffic Department is still investigating.

Antillean Justice Minister Magali Jacoba said Monday that the case had not yet reached her desk, referring The Daily Herald instead to the attorney general's office in Curaçao.

Mud said Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos had informed the attorney general, via a letter last week, of the incident and the initial findings that D. was sober at the time.

Once police have finished investigating, the report will be sent to Aruba for a final decision, Mud said. However, he couldn't place a timeframe on when that would happen.