A New Jersey state senator who was arrested for drunk driving in March struggled to finish a discipline sobriety take a look at and requested cops to name a neighborhood public security official earlier than she was positioned in handcuffs, in line with newly launched video.
Bodycam footage obtained by NorthJersey.com and The Document on Friday reveals State Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-Hudson) swaying and slurring in the course of the March 4 incident in Jersey Metropolis.
Cunningham, 70, was charged with driving whereas intoxicated after she allegedly rammed into two parked vehicles.
Video confirmed her fumbling together with her pockets after officers requested to see her license within the aftermath of the crash.
“Have you ever had something to drink as we speak?” a cop requested Cunningham, who responded “No.”
“No?” the cop requested. “Is there a motive why you’re swaying and you’ve got slurred speech and also you’re having issue to carry out fundamental instructions?”
Cunningham replied that she was “very chilly.”
As she was taking a discipline sobriety take a look at, the lawmaker appeared to have bother placing one foot in entrance of the opposite, the video reveals.
She requested for Jersey Metropolis’s public security director, James Shea, to be referred to as to the scene.
“What does Director Shea should do with something proper now?” the officer administering the take a look at requested, in line with the footage.
“Properly, as a result of I can see that you simply’re in search of one thing that isn’t there,” Cunningham replied.
The distinguished Democrat, who’s in line to turn out to be the occasion’s senate majority chief in January, then deserted the take a look at, saying she felt “unsteady.”
At one level, she seemed to be unable to provide cops her handle. She advised them she lived at “22 West Avenue in Society Hill” when she really resides on Willow Avenue, in line with the report.
When officers moved to handcuff her, Cunningham advised them “No” repeatedly, the footage reveals.
Officers positioned her in cuffs regardless of objections from Joe Cardwell, her political adviser who was on the scene, in line with the report.
Cunningham’s legal professional, Michael Rubas, advised the outlet that “This was a critical accident, which resulted in Sen. Cunningham’s request for medical help.”
Her first look on the drunken driving cost is scheduled for Thursday in Bergen County.
