An Illinois Democratic lawmaker charged with drunk driving after allegedly crashing his car repeatedly misrepresented himself as an “elected official” and sexually harassed the police officer who arrested him, authorities say. This was revealed by camera footage and police.
Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele arrested On the evening of Nov. 10, Chicago Police Department officers found two damaged vehicles near the 5000 block of North Ashland Avenue, WGN9 reported.
Upon further investigation of the scene, officers found 45-year-old Steele lying on the ground near the car he was driving, with a half-empty bottle of wine on the passenger side floor. discovered.
Body camera footage obtained by CWB Chicago shows Steele refusing to hand over his driver's license and insurance, choosing instead to call an attorney.
“It looks like you've been in a traffic accident. Please show us your driver's license and insurance card,” the officer can be heard saying to Steele, who was sitting in the driver's seat.
“Ask him,” she replied, handing the officer her cellphone to speak to her lawyer.
The officer refused to speak to a lawyer before identifying the woman, and the lawyer could be heard telling Steele to hang up and wait until they arrived.
“I'll wait for him,” she repeated slurred.
The officer then asked if he wanted to be handcuffed, to which he replied, “Because you are refusing to handcuff me at this time–” and then the clearly intoxicated woman said, ” I am,” he cut the man off.
“I'm an elected official…I don't want this to happen,” she said, acknowledging that she was involved in a collision with “two” cars.
She continued to refuse to provide identification or insurance, and said the car she was driving was a “friend's car.”
The officer then asked Mr. Steele, the 2nd District representative on the review board, to call him back so he could speak to his attorney, but he let out an irritated sigh.
After the lawyer told the officer he would be there in about 25 minutes, he apologized to the officer and advised his client that he “must give me his driver's license and insurance information.”
Steele then struggled to open the glove compartment of his car and finally produced his insurance card.
In enlarged body camera footage uploaded by CWB Chicago, Steele continued to become combative with responding officers and repeatedly refused to exit the vehicle.
“You don't have to get out of the car…I'll wait for your lawyer,” she said at the officer's request.
“Ma'am…if you don't get out of the car, I'll help you get out of the car, but you don't want that,” he can be heard saying.
“You wouldn't want that,” Steele retorted. “I'm an elected official.”
Even after she compromised her status as a Cook County employee, she refused to give her full name and referred to herself only as “Sam.”
Meanwhile, her lawyer was still pleading with her on the phone to comply with the police officer's demands, and one of her friends arrived and convinced the police to wait until the lawyer arrived at the scene.
Police lost patience as Steele refused field sobriety tests and was handcuffed.
The unidentified female friend repeatedly asked the officer, “Can I have five minutes?”
The arresting officer had mercy and removed her handcuffs after she finally agreed to take a field sobriety test because she was already in a police car.
“Okay, come on, I'll give you a chance,” he yelled.
Even as she stood on the sidewalk to be examined, she grinned and began calling for an ambulance.
After about 20 minutes, the video shows officers finally identifying the woman by removing her identification from her belongings.
The video then shows the East Asian police officer handcuffing Steele again and taking him to the hospital.
Around that time, the lawyer arrived and said, “Please don't say anything.”
During her arrest, she asked Policeman: “Is your penis that small?'' several times. chicago sun times Reported.
Frank Calabrese, a former aide to Steele who is currently suing her, said the officer's harassing comments about her anatomy were “racist” because Steele is Asian.
Calabrese also identified the man who was acting as her attorney at the scene as Cook County Commissioner Scott Britton.
After being discharged from the hospital, Steele was charged with one misdemeanor. charging In the case of drunk driving, daily mail Reported.
Calabrese was fired from her job as appellate analyst and communications director under Steele in May, the paper said, and then in July, “along with the county's Property Tax Appeals Office and her top aides” hired her. It is said that a whistleblowing lawsuit has been filed against the company. Dan Baranoff.
Calabrese's complaintThe document, obtained by WBEZ Chicago, alleges Steele and Baranoff pressured the board's other two commissioners, Larry Rogers Jr. and George Cardenas, to “engage in political activity.” he accused.
