A Washington state Democratic candidate who had just won her primary election was arrested for driving under the influence after her truck allegedly slammed into a parked car and damaged five vehicles, and bodycam footage captured the whole thing.
Krista Perez, 40, a Democratic candidate for the Washington state House of Representatives in the 29th Legislative District, was pulled over by Tacoma police shortly after midnight on August 11 following a chain-reaction crash. Officers found her behind the wheel, smelling of alcohol, with slurred speech, red eyes, and an unsteady gait, the Daily Mail reported. She had won her primary just one week earlier.
Bodycam footage obtained by The Jason Rantz Show on Seattle Red shows Perez telling the arresting officer she had consumed "one glass of wine" at a friend's business on Tacoma Avenue South. When asked whether she had been in an accident, she said she had not, despite the five damaged vehicles behind her.
The footage paints a picture of a candidate who understood she was in trouble but tried to talk her way out of it. When the officer asked Perez to rate her own sobriety on a scale of zero to ten, zero being completely sober, she gave herself a four, the New York Post reported. That is a remarkable self-assessment for someone who claimed she had only one glass of wine.
The officer explained the field sobriety test clearly and patiently. He told Perez it was "totally voluntary" and described it as "a series of tests that I take you through to make sure to see if you're impaired by alcohol, or you're not."
Perez declined. Repeatedly.
Her response, captured on bodycam: "Not right now. I'd like to go home first." The officer told her plainly that going home was not an option. "You're not going to go home first. I'm going to tell you that right now, okay?" he said. Perez asked, "And do I have a choice?" The officer confirmed the test was voluntary, but that the decision had to be made right then, not later.
She chose not to take it. Under Washington state law, declining a roadside sobriety test is a driver's right and carries no separate penalty. But what happened next at the police station is a different matter.
After Perez was placed under arrest, officers transported her to Tacoma Police headquarters to provide a breath sample. She attempted the test three times but failed to produce a usable sample before the machine timed out. Prosecutors alleged a refusal enhancement, an additional charge layered on top of the DUI, based on those failed attempts.
The arrest report, obtained by The Jason Rantz Show, cited the smell of alcohol, noticeable mood swings, slurred speech, red eyes, and an unsteady gait as the basis for the arrest. Perez was booked into Pierce County Jail and released approximately six hours later.
The episode is the latest in a string of embarrassing moments for Democrats who seem unable to stay out of their own way. The national party has struggled with internal revolts and defections that undermine their leadership's credibility, and candidates like Perez do nothing to help the brand.
Perhaps the most striking portion of the footage came after the arrest, when Perez sat in the back of the patrol car. She broke down crying and began praying aloud in Spanish, "Dios, ayúdame por favor. Ayúdame por favor", before switching to English.
Fox News reported the footage showed Perez sobbing and pleading:
"Help me, God. Help me. Help me. Holy Spirit, help me, God."
During the arrest process, Perez also "repeatedly said she 'did not know what any of this means,'" suggesting confusion, or an attempt to distance herself from the gravity of the situation.
Perez works as a strategic partnerships manager at the Washington State Department of Commerce. Whether her state employment could be affected by the arrest or the pending charge remains unclear. She had previously made a failed bid for Tacoma City Council before turning her sights on the state legislature.
Her November opponent is incumbent Representative Melanie Morgan. Washington state law does not prevent anyone facing a DUI charge from serving in the legislature, so Perez remains on the ballot. But voters in the 29th District now have bodycam footage to factor into their decision, a candidate who crashed into parked cars, denied it happened, refused every test available, and wept in the back of a squad car.
Bryan Hershman, Perez's attorney, spoke to the Washington State Standard and tried to minimize the situation. His argument boiled down to: it's just a DUI.
"We're talking about a DUI. It's not like we're talking about felony murder here."
Hershman also attempted to redirect attention to policy, telling the Standard that "no matter what happens in this DUI case, there's still homeless people we need to get off the streets." He added that he hopes "we can stay focused on an important campaign."
That framing is convenient but hollow. A candidate for public office who allegedly drove drunk, crashed into five vehicles, denied the crash to police, refused sobriety testing, and then failed to provide a usable breath sample is not facing a minor inconvenience. She is facing a question of character, the same quality voters are supposed to evaluate when they cast a ballot. Democrats have faced growing scrutiny over their candidates' conduct and credibility, from party figures whose behavior alienates their own base to primary winners who carry baggage into general elections.
Perez herself has made no public statement outside of her attorney's comments. The Daily Mail reached out to Hershman, Perez, and the City of Tacoma for comment. No responses were reported.
The current status of the DUI charge and the refusal enhancement, whether formal charges have been filed in court, remains unclear from available reporting. No results from any subsequent chemical testing, such as a blood draw, have been disclosed.
Washington Democrats have dealt with a pattern of alcohol-related incidents among their elected officials and candidates in recent years, a track record that does nothing to inspire confidence in the party's bench. Nationally, the party continues to grapple with candidates who win primaries only to face serious questions heading into November.
Meanwhile, the same party that lectures Americans about institutional accountability and public trust now asks voters in Tacoma to overlook bodycam footage of their candidate denying a crash, dodging every test, and crying out for divine intervention in the back of a squad car. Democratic leadership at every level, from House floor theatrics to local races, seems increasingly comfortable asking the public to look the other way.
Voters deserve candidates who can pass the tests they're given, on the road and at the ballot box.
