Illinois Dem official tells cop ‘I’m an elected official’ when stopped, slapped with DUI charges

Police body-camera videos from the incident in Andersonville obtained by NPR-affiliate WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times shows Democrat Steele being anything but cooperative with police but very determined for them to know she was a local politician.

“Ma’am, if you don’t exit the vehicle … I’m going to help you to exit, and you don’t want that," a police officer told her. “You don’t want that! I’m an elected official,” Steele responded. “Elected official of what?” the cop inquired. “Cook County,” Steele informed him.

When asked for her name, Steele said her name was Sam. “Sam who?” the officer asked. Steele did not reply with her full name. The officer then told his colleagues, “She’s saying she’s an elected official of Cook County.”

Steele informed the police that she did not “want to be on the video” but they told her that she already was on video as they continued to document the arrest. She appeared to be uncooperative about finding her driver’s license or exiting her car. She drank from an apparent water bottle and accessed her cell phone to call what she repeatedly described as her attorney – Democratic Cook County Commissioner Scott Britton of Glenview, the outlet reported.

Britton advised Steele to cooperate with the police, provide her driver’s license and get out of the car. It turned out that Britton was not her attorney.

The Chicago Sun-Times has written an editorial urging Steele to resign after “the embarrassing situation” that had her lording her elected status over the cops. “A major part of holding public office is the ability to maintain a sense of professionalism — whether the official is on or off duty. Which brings us to the embarrassing situation of Cook County Board of (Tax) Review Commissioner Samantha Steele,” the editorial board wrote.

“Steele was arrested on the North Side for DUI earlier this month, which is bad enough. But her actions during the encounter as shown in recently released police body camera footage — from her refusal to cooperate with officers, to a pitiful attempt to throw around her weight as a public official — are enough to consider Steele unfit to hold elected office. In fact, she should resign.”