Newly obtained body camera video captured an Arizona sheriff’s deputy with a racist insult and begged to be left off the hook after an officer arrested him in December on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Pinal County Sheriff’s deputy Julian Navarrette was detained after an Arizona State University police officer observed him forcing and swerving around 2 a.m. on Dec. 5 in Tempe, according to an ASU police report. Navarrette was out with friends at the time of the arrest, the report said.
When the ASU officer confronted the off-duty deputy about drunk driving, a video from NBC partner KPNX showed Navarrette admitting he said, “Yes, but I’m also a police officer.”
“How much did you drink tonight?” asked the officer.
“Just a few drinks,” said Navarrette.
Navarrette showed the officer his badge, the images show. The officer then asked Navarrette to get out of his car after confirming he worked for the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.
‘I’ve done this whole story, man. What are we going to go through? Navarrette said in response. “Can we let someone else in the car go through this?”
The ASU officer said it didn’t matter if he was a deputy.
“Then that puts my job at risk, right?” Navarrette said.
“Don’t you think it’ll endanger mine if I don’t?” the officer replied.
“Dude, I understand, but can I, can I, maybe put someone else behind the wheel? Behind the wheel? “Said Navarrette.” Don’t jeopardize my career. “
He begged his release again.
“This isn’t a New York man,” said the ASU officer.
“New York? N —-, I’m from Arizona, dude. I’m not from New York,” Navarrette said.
After the ASU officer ran a field sobriety test, Navarrette took a Breathalyzer test and blew a 0.121, the police report said. The legal limit in Arizona is 0.08. Navarette was arrested on a DUI charge and taken into custody at the ASU police station, the report said.
There, Navarrette asked the officer why, according to the images, he did not pass him.
“You couldn’t give me the chance to park the car,” he said. “Nobody reported it.”
“The fact that you’re telling me that tells me you shouldn’t be an officer,” said the officer.
A spokesman for the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office told KPNX that Navarrette initially had a changed service. During that time, he was forbidden to drive a patrol car and drove with another deputy sheriff while taking regular calls for duty.
However, as of Monday, the spokesman said Navarrette was returning to regular service.
The spokesman declined to comment, but said that “Deputy Navarrette is currently the subject of an internal investigation into this incident, and as such we cannot discuss the matter.”
“Our officers treated themselves in a professional manner, as they would with any topic they encountered,” the ASU Police Department said in a statement.
Navarrette told the news station that he did not want to make a statement at this time.
Attempts to reach Navarrette by phone on Tuesday were unsuccessful.
