After DUI Arrest, Cook County Board Of Review Commissioner Wants To Keep Driver's License

CHICAGO — The Cook County elected official accused of drunkenly crashing into multiple cars last month in Chicago is due to appear in court for the first time next week, where her attorney is expected to ask a judge to give her back her driver's license while she awaits trial.

Samantha Steele, 45, of Evanston, is a first-term commissioner on the Cook County Board of Review, a little-known three-member quasi-judicial body with broad powers to determine property tax rates.

Steele was arrested Nov. 10 and charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol after she drove someone else's Honda into two parked cars in the Andersonville neighborhood, according to police reports and body-worn camera footage of the crash's aftermath.

"Do you want me to handcuff and arrest you?" the first officer on scene asks her after Steele refuses to provide her driver's license and registration.

"No," Steele says.

"Because right now, at this point, you're refusing to provide any—" the officer explains.

"I am," she says.

"You do realize that, right?"

"Yes. I'm an elected official. I don't want any of this."

"Well, you were involved in an accident, you hit several cars."

"Two," Steele says, holding up two fingers.

The bodycam video shows Steele refused to get out of the car until Cook County Commissioner Scott Britton, who she identified as her lawyer, notified her she is legally required to do so.

Slurring her words throughout her encounter with police, Steele declined sobriety testing and claims to have hit her head in the crash.

Officer, who described Steele smelling of alcohol, found a half-empty bottle of wine in her car, though she denied having drunk it.

The release of the footage and the police report of Steele's arrest, which was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, sparked national media attention.

An Andersonville resident who called 911 to report Steele had just crashed into their car told dispatchers that the commissioner was trying to "escape" after the crash but her car was too badly damaged.

"And this lady is messed up," the caller said.

When they tried to swap insurance information with her, Steele was uncooperative. Then, before police arrived, she appeared to try to drive away.

“This is an elected official who very easily could have killed one of the people who could have elected her,” the car owner told the Sun-Times.

Steele did not show up in person to the first Board of Review meeting since her arrest. Instead, she took part remotely, citing "illness."

During the portion of the Dec. 2 meeting reserved for public comment, Frank Calabrese, a former employee of Steele's who has a pending whistleblower lawsuit against her, shared video from the arrest.

Calabrese said it demonstrated “a pattern of misconduct which undermines the integrity of the board," the Chicago Tribune reported.

Illinois law mandates an automatic one-year driver’s license suspension for drivers who refuse chemical sobriety tests.

John Fotopoulos, Steele’s criminal defense attorney, has petitioned to rescind the suspension, according to the Sun-Times, challenging its legality on grounds like a potential lack of probable cause or an improperly delivered warning.

Steele defeated incumbent commissioner Michael Cabonargi by less than 9,000 votes in the 2022 Democratic Party primary and won the seat without an opponent in the general election. She has yet to comment publicly on her arrest or associated conduct.

Read more:

• Drunken Cook County Board Of Review Commissioner Crashes With Open Red Wine, Police Report
• Cook County Official Flaunts Political Status During DUI Arrest: Body Cam Footage