The ranger who arrested Bruce Springsteen was on foot patrol when he said he saw the rock icon drink a shot of Patron tequila.
He stopped Springsteen not far from Sandy Hook lighthouse, in a national park on the north shore of New Jersey, according to a report filed after the musician’s arrest on November 14.
“Springsteen said he took two shots of tequila in the last 20 minutes,” wrote the officer, identified as RL Hayes. The musician, he added, smelled “strongly of alcohol” and had “glassy eyes”.
The National Park Service ranger reported carrying out a series of field sobriety tests. Mr. Springsteen was “visibly rocking back and forth,” wrote Ranger Hayes, and took 45 steps during a walk and turn test, instead of the 18 he was instructed to take.
Springsteen, 71, also “refused to provide a sample on the preliminary breath test,” says the report.
That’s where it ends.
There is no mention of Mr. Springsteen’s blood alcohol level. Two people close to Springsteen who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly said it was 0.02%, well below the legal limit of 0.08% in New Jersey.
Springsteen, who rode a Triumph motorcycle, was accused of drunk driving, reckless driving and drinking alcohol in an enclosed area. The Park Service has so far refused to release the full report on the arrest and has not responded to requests for more information about Springsteen’s blood alcohol level.
It was not clear how long after his encounter with the ranger the test was carried out.
The Ranger Hayes report – a “statement of probable cause” – was included in the federal court documents released Thursday afternoon.
Springsteen’s arrest was not revealed until Wednesday, days after he appeared in his first commercial – driving a jeep, in a Super Bowl ad that on Sunday night was the second most watched game day on YouTube.
Springsteen’s lawyer, Mitchell J. Ansell, could not be reached for comment. The musician did not address the charges publicly. Springsteen’s first court hearing will be by videoconference, probably in late February, officials at the US law firm said.
On Wednesday, Jeep removed the ad from its social media sites.
“Your message of community and unity is as relevant as ever,” said Jeep spokeswoman Diane Morgan in a statement. “Just like the message that drinking and driving can never be tolerated.”
As of Thursday night, Springsteen had not removed the video from the ad, or the script he recited calling for the reunification of a divided country, from his Instagram page.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a national defense organization, condemned the Park Service’s delay in publicizing Springsteen’s arrest.
“The fact that this arrest was not revealed by the authorities in New Jersey until after Springsteen’s appearance driving a jeep in an expensive Super Bowl commercial is irritating,” said the group’s president, Alex Otte, in a statement on Wednesday.
“Victims and families deserve that every crime for driving while intoxicated is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law as a violent crime, 100% preventable every time. No excuses, no exceptions. “
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. “
Springsteen was arrested shortly after 4 pm on a 54-degree sunny Saturday in one of his favorite locations – Gateway National Recreation Area in Sandy Hook, a large park about 18 miles from his home in Colts Neck, New Jersey. The scenic seaside area, filled with abandoned military structures and the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the country, served as a backdrop for one of Springsteen’s music videos, an album cover and a short film.
Springsteen’s last album, “Letter to You”, was released three weeks earlier and was receiving rave reviews. The Republican president he asked voters to win had just lost his re-election.
He stopped, as he always does, to chat with fans, said a person close to Springsteen.
After drinking a shot of tequila, he got on his motorcycle and started the engine, wrote Ranger Hayes. “The Patron bottle from which the injection was spilled was completely empty (750 ml),” wrote the officer.
Park Service officials did not respond to calls, emails or public record requests for additional information about Springsteen’s arrest and why it was not released.
Just over two months later, on January 20, Springsteen sang from the Lincoln Memorial staircase, which is also operated by the National Park Service, as part of a televised show in celebration of President Biden’s inauguration.
Then, on Sunday, he was shown driving a white jeep across snow-covered plains in an advertisement during the fourth Super Bowl period. It was the first time in his five-decade career that he agreed to appear in a commercial, a two-minute appeal for national unity.
Caryn Ganz and Ben Sisario contributed reporting, and Alain Delaquérière contributed research.