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The “belligerent behavior” of a Chicago-area official during her DUI arrest was revealed in police footage after reports of her “sexually derogatory remarks.”



(Video: CWBChicago)

Earlier in November, it had been reported that the Cook County Board of Review’s District 2 Commissioner Samantha Steele had been arrested and charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence after crashing her vehicle.

After her interactions were said to include repeating to the arresting officer, “Is your penis that small,” the body cam footage of the interaction revealed the attitude with which she interacted with members of the Chicago Police Department.

“If you don’t exit the vehicle, I’m going to help you exit. And you don’t want that,” an officer could be heard telling Steele who replied, “You don’t want that. I’m an elected official.”

Numerous requests from the officers for her to comply with a lawful order to step out of the vehicle were ignored as she instead contacted Cook County Board of Commissioners member Scott Britton to act as her attorney.

He could be heard telling her to comply with the orders of the police leading to her compliance with stepping out of the vehicle that was said to have struck a parked car during a wide turn.

At that point, the officer, who made multiple references to the smell of alcohol and had located a partially empty bottle of wine with a cork jammed back in the top on the passenger side near a tote bag that read “LGBTQ+ Victory Fund,” instructed Steele, “Now, tell your attorney, since he’s on the phone, are you going to do field sobriety test or no?”

“No,” she stated prompting the officer to place her in handcuffs.

As had been covered, the first-term official’s eyes had been described as “bloodshot and glassy” during the arrest and had refused to participate in the field sobriety test.

However, as she was being placed in the officer’s vehicle, she claimed she didn’t understand the question and briefly agreed to test, prompting the police to escort her to the sidewalk where she changed her story multiple times.

During the attempt to conduct the test, Steele asserted that she had struck her head during the crash and latched on to the opportunity for an ambulance to be dispatched to the location, which she later attempted to refuse.

Ultimately, the politician was placed back in handcuffs before she was led to the ambulance to be taken for treatment.

In response to her arrest, Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison of the 17th District had joined others in calling for her resignation as he said in part, “Upon her arrest at the scene, Steele allegedly exhibited aggressive behavior towards the responding police officer, making sexually derogatory remarks and continued this belligerent behavior throughout the arrest and booking process.”

“This incident raises serious concerns about her conduct and judgement as an elected official. If an elected official does not respect our dedicated police officers, then how can we expect the citizens to respect the police?” asked Morrison. “Given the severity of the incident and the blatant disrespect shown towards law enforcement, it is in the public interest that Commissioner Samantha Steele resign her position on the Cook County Board of Review to restore public trust and accountability.”

Kevin Haggerty
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