Mayor ‘stumbles and cries when arrested for drink driving with toddler in car’
Paddy’s Day drinking landed a New Jersey mayor in handcuffs after she was allegedly caught driving her toddler home while drunk.
‘Oh I’m sorry’, Gina LaPlaca, 45, told officers outside her home when they told they’d had multiple calls claiming she ran a red light and was swerving.
Bodycam footage showed a smashed-up wing mirror and a scrape the length of her blue BMW parked behind her on the drive around 5.40pm on March 17.
‘What happened to your mirror here,’ an officer asked. LaPlaca replied ‘that’s not good’ while stumbling over to try and bend it back into shape.
Asked what she hit on the way there, the Mayor of Lumberton told police: ‘I don’t know.’
Crying, LaPlaca said ‘I’m sorry’ while police placed her handcuffed in the back their car.
She had allegedly been filmed on a mobile phone driving erratically and nearly colliding with a utility pole, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
LaPlaca has been charged with driving under the influence, child endangerment and neglect, and driving with an expired license. She is due to appear in court next month.
She has been mayor of Lumberton, a township home to 13,000 people 25 miles east of Philadelphia, since 2023.
Her husband, firefighter Jason Carty, said: ‘Millions of Americans struggle with addiction and never get help.
‘Gina is someone who has struggled, and is now getting the help she needs.
‘I ask that everyone keep her in their thoughts as she moves forward on her road to recovery.
‘Please ignore the exaggerated political hyperbole and keep in mind her passion for helping others. This should not erase all the things she has accomplished for our community.
‘Gina is a loving and caring mother and stepmom to our son and her stepson.
‘Our oldest is a teenager and can see the unkind things being said online. I ask simply that you respect our privacy, be better humans and please show some compassion, thank you.’
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