Bruce Springsteen, who is a musician, was arrested by the DWI in November last year, news that only came out this week and led Jeep to launch its Super Bowl ad with The Boss. This seems to be a very simple story, except that it is not.
Take, for example, Asbury Park Press’s report since yesterday, Springsteen’s blood alcohol content was 0.02, which is well below New Jersey’s 0.08 limit.
The blood alcohol index of Bruce Springsteen, a New Jersey rock icon, was 0.02 – just a quarter of New Jersey’s legal limit – when he was arrested in Sandy Hook in November and accused of drunk driving, said a source familiar with the case to Asbury Park Press.
The legal limit for driving intoxication in New Jersey is 0.08, which puts into question why Springsteen was accused of driving while intoxicated, the source said.
Which was a little huh, and then the “breach notice” was released yesterday, and it was more “huh”. Here is the full statement from the police officer who arrested him. Springsteen was stopped in a red and silver Triumph.
During a foot patrol, I watched a man (Bruce F. SPRINGSTEEN) consume a shot of Patron tequila and then get on his motorcycle and start the engine. I contacted SPRINGSTEEN and informed them that alcohol is prohibited in Sandy Hook. The Patron bottle from which the shot was spilled was completely empty (750 mL). I asked SPRINGSTEEN if he was leaving and he confirmed that he was going to drive out of the park. SPRINGSTEEN said he took two shots of tequila in the last 20 minutes. SPRINGSTEEN had a strong smell of alcohol coming from him and he had glassy eyes. I ran SPRINGSTEEN through standardized sobriety tests. I observed four of the six clues in the horizontal look nystagmus test. SPRINGSTEEN was visibly rocking back and forth as I watched his eyes. I observed five of the eight tracks in the walk and turn test. SPRINGSTEEN took a total of 45 steps during walking and turning, instead of 18. SPRINGSTEEN refused to provide a sample on the preliminary breath test.
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This all sounds kind of reprehensible! Except then you remember that value of 0.02, which, if true, must have come from a later test. The New York Times also I talked to a lawyer which, in my opinion, gave the most likely explanation of what happened:
Even if the blood alcohol level is below the legal limit, it is not uncommon for a person to be accused of driving while intoxicated based on the observation of a police officer during a three-part sobriety test, according to Carmine R. Villani, a defender New Jersey criminal case. Lawyer with 30 years of experience in DWI processes.
“Everything is done as a whole,” said Villani, who is not involved in the Springsteen case. “He might have alcohol on his breath. So he may not pass all aspects of the test. It is designed to mess people up. It is a test of divided attention. It is a stressful event and people often don’t get along with them. “
But if the blood alcohol level is finally found well below 0.08%, the cases are easily resolved, said Villani.
“With a 0.02, you shouldn’t move your heart – you wouldn’t be nervous,” he said. “At 0.02, the science is simply not there. Someone is simply not hurt. “
All of this resulted in Springsteen stopping to talk to a fan, according to the New York Times, and now I can understand better why Springsteen went ahead with the Jeep ad and apparently normal life if people had guaranteed him that registering a 0.02 would not be a big problem.
It goes without saying that taking a shot of tequila (or two) before riding a motorcycle is not ideal, nor is drinking on federal property where drinking is not allowed, but above all this story is very Bruce Springsteen. Tramps like us, baby, were born to run.