Body camera footage released by Chicago police shows a Cook County politician’s encounter with officers while being arrested for driving while intoxicated after crashing her car into another vehicle, authorities said.
Body camera footage released by Chicago police shows a Cook County politician's encounter with officers while being arrested for driving while intoxicated after crashing her car into another vehicle, authorities said.
Samantha Steele, 45, a commissioner on the Cook County Board of Review, was charged with misdemeanor DUI following the Nov. 10 incident near Ashland and Winnemac avenues in the city's Ravenswood neighborhood. According to a police report, officers arrived at the scene and encountered a woman lying down on the sidewalk, identified as Steele, who explained she was driving southbound on Ashland when she struck another vehicle. An officer observed that Steele's eyes were bloodshot and glassy -- and detected an odor of alcohol coming from her breath, the report stated.
When the officer asked Steele how much she had to drink that night, she allegedly replied, "I want my lawyer, and I'm not talking to you."
At one point, the following exchange occurred between Steele and an officer:
Officer: Ma'am, if you don't exit the vehicle... if you don't exit the vehicle, I'm going to help you to exit, and you don't want that.
Steele: You don't want that. I'm an elected official.
Officer: Actually, I do... Elected official of what?
Steele: Cook County.
Steele only agreed to exit the vehicle and hand over her driver's license after a person on the phone, who she stated was her lawyer, advised her to do so.
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While searching Steele's vehicle, officers observed an open bottle of red wine in the passenger floorboard, according to the police report. The public official -- who officers said appeared to be swaying during a police interview -- refused to perform field sobriety tests, authorities stated.
At the hospital, where she was eventually discharged after complaining of pain, an officer placed Steele under arrest for DUI and began to read her a Warning to Motorist. As the reading was taking place, Steele allegedly asked the officer, "Is your p**** that small?"
Steele was processed at the Chicago Police Department's 20th District, issued a citation and given a court date.
