Newly released dashcam footage shows a New Jersey judge attempting to use his position to get out of a drunk driving arrest.
NJ.com reports that Wilfredo Benitez, a municipal judge in New Jersey, was found passed out in the driver's seat of his BMW hatchback at 2:13 a.m. on November 12, 2016. The vehicle was pulled over with its emergency lights flashing.
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Benitez was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.
NJ.com obtained footage of the traffic stop and posted it on Saturday.
Watch the video below:
In the video, Benitez tells an officer he was on his way home after dropping his daughter off at school. He then says he was dropping his son off at school. Benitez tells officers he is a judge before being placed in handcuffs.
"I'm a f***ing judge," Benitez says after he is taken to the patrol car. "I would never do anything to hurt you, man, c’mon."
Benitez begins shouting at the officers and saying that they are wasting their time. "I will f***ing fight you, and you know you’re being a d**k,” Benitez says.
A breath test found that Benitez's blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit, but the court case against the judge fell apart because of flaws in the investigation, NJ.com reports. The case was thrown out in May 2017 by Superior Court Judge Roy McGeady.
Now, the incident is being brought up in a separate ethics investigation against Benitez. A January ethics complaint accuses the judge of abusing his position.
Benitez will have to appear before the New Jersey Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct to answer to the ethics complaint. A date has not been set for the appearance.
Meanwhile, Benitez is prohibited from hearing DWI cases in his courtrooms, according to the state judiciary.