Bodycam Footage Of RivCo Senator Cited With DUI Released: WATCH

MURRIETA, CA — Attorneys representing Sen. Sabrina Cervantes (D-Murrieta) say that newly released police bodycam footage proves that she was wrongly accused of drunk driving near the Capitol earlier this year.

Cervantes is suing the Sacramento Police Department, following a crash on May 19, when an SUV broadsided her vehicle. After the crash, the 37-year-old was taken to Kaiser Permanente hospital for minor injuries, where she says police questioned her for hours before she was cited for driving under the influence.

The senator contends that officers acted in retaliation for her legislation to limit police use of automated license plate readers. She also says she was targeted as an openly LGBTQ+ Latina and that police “leaked false claims to the press” to damage her reputation.

“This is not only about what happened to me — it’s about accountability,” Cervantes wrote in a statement. “No Californian should be falsely arrested, defamed, or retaliated against because of who they are or what they stand for. The abuse of power that I endured undermines public trust and cannot be ignored.”

WATCH THE VIDEO:

On Thursday, Cervantes' lawyer shared an edited video that spliced clips together from police footage that shows officers talking to Cervantes. The video also shows security camera footage of the accident itself, where a Ford Explorer is seen proceeding into an intersection, where it hits the right side of the senator's Toyota Camry, a state-issued vehicle.

While being interviewed by police at the hospital, the senator was accused of having an "unsteady gait" and slurred speech. Lawyers say the footage shows that, although she was injured, her speech was not slurred and her gait was normal.

"My back is really starting to get to me," she says to the officers.

An officer later asks Cervantes if she'd submit to field sobriety tests.

"The easiest way forward is to prove to me you aren’t intoxicated is a simple eye test," an officer tells her. "The eyes will tell me a ton."

Cervantes asks for the name of the test so she can ask her lawyer. "...can't you all just do a blood test though?"

Her legal team says the video proves that officers lied when they reported that Cervantes refused to do a blood test.

The video text also accuses an officer of turning off his body camera for five minutes, which is a violation of his department's policy.

The officer is heard saying her speech is "slow and lethargic" and that she "seemed a little confused."

He also admitted that he couldn't smell alcohol on her breath but said he had "reasonable suspicion that she has something" in her system.

Cervantes' lawyers say police had no legal basis to seek a search warrant, given their comments.

In another part of the video, officers ask Cervantes why she went to the hospital instead of staying at the scene of the accident. She told officers she was advised by a senate official to seek medical care.

“I don’t want to tie up fire and emergency services when there’s so many dire needs out there … critical needs when we have someone who could just take me to get seen,” she told the officer.

"I’m not saying that’s indicative of anything,” the officer says in reply. “I’m just saying that that is odd. It’s different than what we typically see.”

Meanwhile, the video also shows footage of police officers interviewing the other driver, who was not asked to exit the vehicle or perform a sobriety test despite not being able to show a physical license or proof of insurance.

“She kind of just seemed shaken up. Like she was all kind of over the place," the other driver said of Cervantes in an interview with officers. "I had very limited contact with her as far as her and I speaking."

"Did she say she was injured at all?" the officer asked.

"No, she said that she just felt like kind of shaken up... she didn't say that she was, like, injured ... she didn't look injured."

According to a claim filed by Cervantes lawyers last week, Sacramento police treated the driver who caused the crash — described as a young white woman — “with deference and respect.”

By contrast, when Officers Daniel Williams and Bailey Foster approached Cervantes at the hospital, they heavily questioned her about the accident and pressed her on whether she had been drinking, according to the claim.

Although a blood test conducted by Sacramento police later confirmed Cervantes was sober, and prosecutors declined to file charges, she is now seeking damages and accountability for what she calls an ordeal that unfairly dragged her name through DUI headlines and caused emotional distress.

The claim says police have already “released false information to the press claiming that Senator Cervantes had driven while under the influence of drugs.”

The Riverside County Democratic Party has voiced its support for the senator, stating in a May 27 news release: “False Accusations Make Headlines. Vindication Deserves the Same."

“She was accused, detained, and thrust into headlines before any facts had been confirmed," Riverside County Democratic Party Chair Joy Silver wrote. "Now that the evidence has cleared her, the same attention should be paid."