The government dropped charges of drunken driving and reckless driving against Bruce Springsteen on Wednesday, following an incident in November, admitting that the rocker’s blood alcohol level was so low that it did not justify the charges.
Springsteen pleaded guilty to a third charge, drinking alcohol in an enclosed area, the Gateway National Recreation Area. Better known as Sandy Hook, it is an Atlantic Ocean peninsula overlooking the New York City skyline.
Facing a judge and more than 100 viewers on a video conference, Springsteen sat down next to attorney Mitchell Ansell and admitted that he knew it was illegal to drink alcohol in the park.
“I took two small shots of tequila,” Springsteen said in response to questions from an assistant United States attorney. The case was heard in the Federal Court because the park is considered federal land.
US magistrate Anthony Mautone fined Springsteen $ 500 for the offense, plus $ 40 in court costs.
“I think I can pay that right away, Your Honor,” Springsteen told Mautone.
In an e-mailed statement, Ansell wrote that Springsteen “is satisfied with the outcome” of the hearing.
According to a probable cause document written by the park police at the time of the incident, Springsteen told a park official that he had fired two shots in the previous 20 minutes, but would not do a preliminary breathalyzer test before being arrested. Mautone said on Wednesday that the preliminary test is not mandatory and is not admissible in court.
When he did a breathalyzer test at the park’s ranger station, Springsteen’s blood alcohol level was 0.02, a quarter of the legal limit in New Jersey, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The officer wrote that he saw Springsteen take a shot of tequila and then get on his motorcycle. The officer wrote that the rocker “smelled strongly of alcohol” on November 14 and “had glassy eyes” and that there was a bottle of Tequila Patron that was “completely empty”.
The report described Springsteen as “oscillating noticeably back and forth” during a field sobriety test and said he refused to provide a sample in an initial breath test.
After news of the arrest, Jeep paused an ad that ran during the Super Bowl featuring Springsteen in Kansas, asking people to find common ground. In a statement, Jeep said it would pause the commercial “until the real facts can be established”.
Springsteen performed on January 20 as part of President Joe Biden’s inauguration, singing “Land of Hope and Dreams” in front of the Lincoln Memorial.