A Democratic lawmaker from Illinois drunkenly her way through an arrest in which she mocked a police officer’s alleged penis size in recently released bodycam footage.
Samantha Steele, 45, of Evanston, who represents District 2 — which includes much of Chicago’s North Side and northern suburbs — was charged Nov. 10 with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol.
In the bodycam video, Steele is combative and consistently tries to use her position to bully Windy City police officers, who at one point found an open bottle of wine in a plastic backing on the floor of her car.
“I’m an elected official. I don’t want any of this…I’m waiting for (my lawyer to arrive),” she says.
One of the officers claims she “hit multiple cars” and Steele responds by holding up two fingers and saying, “Two.”
Finally, a sergeant arrives on the scene and warns her, “If you don’t get out of the vehicle, I’m going to help you get out and you don’t want that.”
“You don’t want that,” Steele snaps back sarcastically, before repeating that she is “an elected official.”
Steele, who twice used what officers described as “small wrists” to slip out of his handcuffs, then demands, “I don’t want to be on the video.”
A Democratic lawmaker from Illinois drunkenly her way through an arrest in which she mocked a police officer’s alleged penis size in newly released bodycam footage
Samantha Steele, 45, of Evanston, who represents District 2 — which includes much of Chicago’s North Side and northern suburbs — was charged Nov. 10 with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol.
“You’re on the video,” an officer responds.
“I’m waiting for my lawyer,” she repeats.
That lawyer turned out to be Democratic Cook County Commissioner Scott Britton, who afterward told the Chicago Sun-Timesd that he was not a lawyer and did not represent Steele in the case.
Britton can still be heard advising Steele whenever he comes on screen, pleading with her, “Don’t say anything. Don’t say anything.’
Steele alternates during the video between asking for an ambulance and not sending an ambulance before an ambulance eventually took her to a nearby hospital.
It was at the hospital – and not captured on video – where she repeatedly asked the officer, “Is your penis that small?”
Police responded to the scene of a two-car crash with “extensive damage” in the 5000 block of North Ashland, in Ravenswood, on Sunday evening at 8:49 p.m., where Steele admitted to crashing into another vehicle.
“I noticed her eyes were bloodshot and glassy,” an officer wrote in the report. “I also smelled a strong odor of alcoholic beverage coming from her breath as she spoke,” Chicago Sun Times reported.
In the bodycam video, Steele is combative and consistently tries to use her position to bully Windy City police officers, who at one point found an open bottle of wine in a plastic backing on the floor of her car.
Cook County’s first-term elected official refused to administer field sobriety tests or tell officers how much alcohol she had consumed before getting behind the wheel.
“I want my lawyer, and I’m not talking to you,” Steele responded to officers after being asked how much to drink, the Chicago Sun Times reported.
She was then handcuffed, arrested and taken to hospital for treatment after complaining of pain caused by a head injury.
At the hospital, she mocked the arresting officer by continually asking him if his “penis is so small.”
Steele was first elected to the powerful Cook County Board of Review — which has the power to decide property tax appeals — in 2022 after serving on the team of Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi worked.
She became president after defeating Michael Cabonargi, the previous holder of the post, in the Democratic primaries two years ago.
But this isn’t the first time the Democratic lawmaker has been the subject of controversy and complaints.
Franke Calabrese, a former assistant to Steele, filed a whistleblower lawsuit against her in July this year, along with the provincial tax office and her top aide.
Steele, who twice used what officers described as “small wrists” to slip out of his handcuffs, then demands, “I don’t want to be on the video.”
Steele was first elected to the powerful Cook County Board of Review — which has the power to decide property tax appeals — in 2022 after serving on the team of Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi worked.
Calabrese, who worked under Steele as a career analyst and communications director, was fired last May.
In the July lawsuit, Calabrese alleged that Steele asked him to draft and distribute a memo to elected officials in the county regarding the football team’s property tax appeal, WBEZ Chicago reported.
He also alleged that Steele leaked the board’s decision on the race track’s valuation before the final vote took place. Chicago Tribune reported.
But he said he was punished for contacting the board’s top lawyer last February to seek advice on the matter, and was fired in May.
The investigation’s findings did not carry a fine, but a recommendation for Steele to undergo ethics training for violating the board’s ethics policy and the state’s real estate tax law for leaking confidential information and showing bias towards the team in comments to the media.
Steele’s next court appearance is scheduled for December 27.