John Jefferson
Inset: Teresa Heitmann (Collier County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Heitmann speaking with a police officer (YouTube/WFTX/Naples Police Department).
A Florida woman was arrested last week after following a couple home in her car while she was drunk, crashing into their mailbox, and then parking on their lawn, police in the Sunshine State say.
The woman just so happens to be the mayor of Naples – a medium-sized city along the Gulf of Mexico, which provides the first half of the namesake to the broader Naples-Marco Island metro area.
Teresa Heitmann, 61, stands accused of one count of driving under the influence (DUI) with an unlawful blood alcohol level (BAC) of 0.15 or higher, according to Collier County Sheriff’s Office records.
The incident occurred on the night of Aug. 28, near a residence located at the corner of 16th Avenue and 3rd Street. Officers responded to a 911 call lodged by a man who said he and his wife were being followed home by a woman driving a silver vehicle, according to a press release issued by the Naples Police Department.
At first, the man said, the woman was completely “unknown” to them. Later, the calculus shifted when the woman identified herself.
“Yeah, umm, I think the mayor is drunk and she just, she just literally — oh, she just drove over our mailbox,” the man can be heard saying in 911 audio obtained by Miami-based NBC affiliate WTVJ.
The dispatcher responds somewhat incredulous: “The mayor did?”
The man is nonplussed and tells the dispatcher: “I don’t know, she’s claiming to be the mayor. I don’t know who she is.”
The back-and-forth continues.
“Did she ever tell you her name or anything like that?” the dispatcher inquires.
The man asks the woman in his yard: “What is your name, ma’am?”
A woman’s voice can then be heard saying: “Mayor Teresa Heitmann.”
The earned honorific is quickly jettisoned when police arrive.
“Mrs. Mayor, will you come on over for me right here?” a police officer says in body-worn camera footage obtained by the TV station.
“No, don’t call me mayor,” the mayor says in response.
“OK,” the officer obliges. “Sorry.”
“I am Teresa Heitmann right now,” Heitmann continues. “I am not the mayor.”
“OK,” the officer says again.
The confrontation gets a bit more intense in footage obtained by Cape Coral-based Fox affiliate WFTX.
“You are slurring your words a little bit here,” an officer tells the mayor, the footage shows.
She adamantly denies the accusation: “No, sir. I am not slurring my words. I have sat here calm. Calmly.”
The officer deadpans: “Calmly is a loose term. I think I’ve heard you yelling at my officers about twice now.”
Police said the mayor was “leaning on her vehicle” when they arrived at around 9:51 p.m. on the night in question.
“During the call for service, Officers believed Mrs. Heitmann may have been intoxicated and observed her in physical control of her vehicle,” the police department’s press release continues. “At the request of investigating Officers, Mrs. Heitmann agreed to complete field sobriety exercises. Following the completion of the investigation, Officers found probable cause to arrest Mrs. Heitmann for driving under the influence of an intoxicating substance.”
Heitmann allegedly went on to tell police she only had one glass of wine before driving – whereupon the couple in question cut her off in traffic. After allegedly failing her field sobriety test, her BAC was tested twice using a breath analysis device, police say.
One test allegedly showed the mayor had a BAC of of 0.155 and another with a BAC of 0.169. The legal limit in Florida is 0.08.
“City employees were saddened to learn about the incident involving the Mayor,” Naples City Manager Jay Boodheshwar told WTVJ. “We know this is a difficult time for Mayor Heitmann and will give her the space she needs.”
On Aug. 29, Heitmann was released after posting $500 bond.
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