Newly surfaced police bodycam footage shows Krista Perez, a Washington state Democrat running for a seat in the state House, sobbing in the back of a patrol vehicle after her August DUI arrest — and at one point asking an officer how to get out of the car. The footage was reported by FOX News and highlighted by The Daily Wire.
Tacoma police say Perez was arrested after her 2019 Chevrolet Silverado allegedly struck a parked vehicle on South G Street. The collision, which reportedly occurred just after midnight on August 11, damaged several other vehicles in a chain reaction, according to police. She has been charged with DUI along with a refusal enhancement.
What the Footage Shows
In the video, Perez sits in the back of the police vehicle with her hands cuffed behind her back, alternately crying and pleading for assistance. She complains that the handcuffs are sliding down her arms and cutting into her hands. When officers arrive at the station, she sobs loudly, repeating, “Please help me, please help me.”
At one point, as an officer tries to help her out of the vehicle, she says, “I don’t know how to get out.” She repeats the line several times before finally stepping out and standing barefoot next to the door. The officer’s response — “One leg and then the other” — is captured in the recording.
The clip also shows officers adjusting the handcuffs after she tells them they had slid too far down her arms.
The Traffic Stop Exchange
The station’s report says bodycam footage begins with officers asking Perez about the collision. She admitted to drinking wine but said she did not understand what was happening.
When an officer asked whether she had been in an accident, she allegedly replied, “I don’t know. I’ve never been in an accident before.” Asked if she had been drinking that evening, she said, “I just had some wine.” When the officer pressed on how much, she insisted it had been only one glass. She struggled when asked how large the glass was, saying, “I think you might need to contact the business.”
On a sobriety scale from zero to 10 — with zero meaning completely sober — Perez first rated herself a zero and later revised that to a four, according to the footage.
The officer then offered field sobriety tests, reminding her they were voluntary. Perez said she would prefer to “go home first.”
According to the report, the officer told her: “You’re not going to go home first. I’m going to tell you that right now, okay? So your options between the test, yes or no, that’s going to be determined tonight, right now, not when you go home. So would you like to take these tests or no?”
When she again asked to go home first, the officer treated it as a refusal and placed her under arrest. That refusal led to the additional refusal enhancement charge.
Political Context
Perez is seeking a seat in the Washington state House of Representatives. The arrest and the footage are likely to become an issue in the campaign as the video circulates. The Daily Wire, which amplified the story, emphasized the moment in which she asked how to exit the police vehicle.
The report does not indicate whether Perez has entered a plea or made any public statement about the arrest. It also does not specify her district or opponent.
The article was based on reporting by The Daily Wire and FOX News, which first reported the bodycam footage.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-dem-candidate-has-a-question-after-dui-arrest-its-a-doozy