A Washington state House candidate was captured in body-camera footage crying and praying from the back of a police cruiser following her arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Krista Perez, 40, a Democrat seeking a seat in the Washington House of Representatives, was arrested after police said her vehicle struck a parked car shortly after midnight on August 11.
Authorities said the initial crash triggered a chain reaction that damaged five vehicles in total, according to the Washington State Standard.
Perez won the August 4 primary for Position 1 in Washington’s 29th Legislative District and is scheduled to challenge incumbent Representative Melanie Morgan in the November election.
In officer body-camera video obtained by The Jason Rantz Show, Perez is questioned by officers before she is placed in a patrol car, where she begins sobbing and praying.
When an officer asked whether she had been involved in an accident, Perez replied that she had not, according to the footage.
Perez told the officer she had been at a friend’s business on Tacoma Avenue South. The officer then asked whether she had consumed alcohol.
‘I just had some wine while I was there,’ she said. ‘I had a glass of wine, one glass of wine.’
Krista Perez, a 40-year-old Democratic candidate for a Washington state House seat, was arrested after police said her vehicle struck a parked car shortly after midnight on August 11.
Body-camera footage obtained by The Jason Rantz Show shows Perez speaking with police before she is placed in a cruiser, where she begins to cry and pray.
Officers cited the smell of alcohol, noticeable mood swings, slurred speech, red eyes and an unsteady gait for her cause of arrest
When asked how big the glass of wine was, Perez said: ‘I think you might need to contact the business.’
On a scale of zero to ten, zero being sober, Perez rated herself a four.
The officer then offered Perez to undergo a field sobriety test, to which she repeatedly responded that she wanted to go home.
‘So it’s a series of tests that I take you through to make sure to see if you’re impaired by alcohol, or you’re not. Are you okay with doing that? It’s totally voluntary,’ the officer said.
Perez expressed her confusion, saying she didn’t know what the tests were, and continued to ask to leave.
‘Not right now. I’d like to go home first,’ she was heard telling police.
‘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?’ he responded.
‘And do I have a choice?’ she asked.
An enhancement was brought to Perez’s case after she allegedly didn’t give a usable breath sample after three attempts before the machine timed out at Tacoma Police headquarters
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‘You do have a choice. You can either say yes, or you can say no. They’re totally voluntary tests,’ the officer said.
‘Yeah, I would like to go home first,’ she said.
When asked if that meant she was declining the test, Perez said she was and she was subsequently told to put her hands behind her back.
Officers cited the smell of alcohol, noticeable mood swings, slurred speech, red eyes and an unsteady gait for her cause of arrest, the police report said, according to the Standard.
As she was being placed under arrest for a DUI, Perez repeatedly said she ‘did not know what any of this means.’
Once inside the patrol car, she began to cry and pray in Spanish.
‘Dios, ayúdame por favor. Ayúdame por favor,’ she was heard saying.
She continues to say: ‘Help me, God. Help me. Help me. Holy Spirit, help me, God.’
Perez currently works for the state as a strategic partnerships manager in the Department of Commerce after a failed grab for Tacoma City Council last year
Perez was booked into Pierce County Jail before she was released six hours later, the Standard reported.
Washington state law dictates that roadside sobriety tests are not required and declining them is separate from the refusal enhancement prosecutors alleged in Perez’s case.
According to an arrest report obtained by the talk show, the enhancement was brought on by allegations that Perez did not give police a usable breath sample after three attempts before the machine timed out at Tacoma Police headquarters.
State law does not prevent anyone with a DUI charge from serving in legislature.
Perez’s attorney, Bryan Hershman, told the Standard that he hopes ‘we can stay focused on an important campaign.’
‘We’re talking about a DUI. It’s not like we’re talking about felony murder here,’ he added.
‘No matter what happens in this DUI case, there’s still homeless people we need to get off the streets. I hope we can stay focused on what’s relevant.’
Perez currently works for the state as a strategic partnerships manager in the Department of Commerce after a failed grab for Tacoma City Council last year, according to the outlet.
The Daily Mail reached out to Hershman, Perez and the City of Tacoma for comment.