How are you? How you doing? I'm good. Are you all right? Do you need an ambulance or anything? Okay. What? Do you need an ambulance or anything? Let's Let's walk to your car cuz I don't want you to get hit by a car. Okay. Well, am I? Yeah. I see that your car here, ma'am. Right over here. Right over here. Right over here. Right over here. Okay. You start off with your driver's license, please. Sure. Why don't you have a seat in your car, man? Why don't you have a seat in your car? Mhm. Let's start off with your driver's license and your proof your insurance. Okay. Yeah, I'm here. Okay. Do you want that driver's license? Who's this? My attorney. Your who? Your attorney. All right. You can call him in a little bit cuz right now everything's recording audio video. Okay. But uh you're involved in a traffic accident. I'd like to see your driver's license and your proof of insurance. Ask him. Okay. He's not driving, dude. Just Just hang Yeah, just hang up, Samantha, and I'll be there. Tell him I'm on my way. He's on his way. Yes. She said he said he'll be on your way. Okay. Let's start off with your driver's license and your I know, ma'am, but I need to see your driver's license to verify you're okay to be driving. And number two, your insurance so we can start the paperwork. There's some damage done to your car. I'll wait for him. Maybe I tell you everything's being audio and videotaped. Okay. I'm just saying I'm wait I'll wait for I'm requesting your driver's license and your proof of insurance. I'm sure you can provide me with those two things while we're waiting for your attorney's show. I'll wait for him. Okay. But we don't have to wait for him. I need I need to wait for him. Okay, ma'am. We don't need to make this any more complicated than it already is. It's just an accident. I just need to see your driver's license. I'll wait for him. Okay, ma'am. Do you want me to handcuff you and arrest you? No. Because right now at this point, you're refusing to provide me any I am. You are. You realize that, right? Yes. I've been elected official. You what? I don't want any of this. Well, ma'am, you're involved in an accident. You've hit several cars. Two. So, yeah. I need to see your driver's license so I can start the paper. Pulled out in front of me. I Okay, great. I'll ask you that in a second, but I really need to verify. This is your This is your car? No, it's my friend's car. It's your friend's car. Okay. Do you have a valid driver's license? I do. Okay, great. And I have insurance. How about an ID? I do. Okay. Can I see some of those so I can know who you are? My attorney. Okay. Okay. I'm trying to I'm just trying to work with you, but you're not providing me your driver's license and insurance. Nope. And why are we waiting for your attorney for? This is my friend. He's their friend. Okay. But he wasn't here in the car. [Applause] Is that him there? No. Okay. You want to give him a call? He's coming. Okay. You want to give him a call so I can touch him? You want to touch him? Yeah, please. The officer wants to talk to you. Okay. This is officer Fernandez with his district. Oops. Where are you? Uh, your client here, I'm fine. Your client here was involved in an accident. How far are you? Uh, like 25 minutes. Okay. I need to see her driver's license and her proof of insurance. And she's understanding that she doesn't have to provide that to me until you arrive. Can you advise her client? That is not true. That I I would be happy to advise her what the law is. Okay. Please. Can you advise her so I could get this paperwork started? I will. Great. Thank you. Are you listening to him? Sorry about that. Yeah, I know it's on the side. Can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you. All right. So, go ahead. It is by state law. You have to give them your driver's license, your insurance information. That's great advice. You can start the paperwork. That is exactly what you should do and I'll be there in about 25 minutes to give further advice. That's all. That's all you're required to do. Your name and your driver's license and insurance. Great. Give them that. That is. And you said this is not your car, right? No, it's my car. Do you happen to have Do you happen to know if he has insurance? He does. Can you go look in the glove compartment for me? [Applause] It's a fancy car. I don't Yeah, I understand. I just need to look at see if he's got insurance. I don't know how to open the fancy. You want me to take a look to see if he's got it? Oh, I got it. Oh, there you go. [Applause] Wait. Yep. That seems to be it. I'll be right back. Stay in your car. Okay. Okay. Mr. Steels, you can put that away. He's got valid insurance. Okay. Is that your attorney still? Yes. Is he still on his way? Can you tell me how far he is? How many check here? 15 minutes. Okay. We'll wait for you to arrive. All right. Thank you, officer. All right. I'll be there as soon as I get. Thank you. Okay. Why? Well, you hear two cars, so we got to give you a traffic accident. Okay. Okay. And uh I don't know what we're going to do about the car because it's not drivable. Your tire is pretty messed up. It's not going to be allow you to drive home. So, is your attorney maybe going to be able to drive you home? Yes. and I'll pay for the certificate wherever he needs to go. Well, you probably want to let the owner know that you were involved in an accident. Let him know. He's my very best friend. Oh, good. Okay. All right. So, just hang tight. I'll be right back. Okay. Yes, ma'am. I'm so sorry. That's accident. People know, you know, people happens. Okay. Yes. Mhm. [Applause] Hey boss, how are you? That's her. Yeah, that's a driver right there. Uh shaken up. Her uh friend attorney is on his way. How you doing, man? Um BMS, are you good? I'm working. I have to be good. You working right now? Where you working at? I'm just [ __ ] How much you had to drink? What is she looking for? I have no idea. I've already got her driver's license here. I'm fine. It's fine. Ma'am, we need you to exit. It's not uh it's not you telling us we're not taking your word for it. We don't take nobody word for it. We don't need that. I don't need that. I already told you. We just need you. We just need you exit in so we know you're good. You just got involved in an accident. It's like I did, but my friend's coming. If I go outside, I'm not going to be like so secure. And then my friend Secure Secure. Everything is on video and audio recording. I know. Yeah. So, can you exit? I can. Okay. Please do. I'm waiting for you. Can you hold that? What? I'm not holding anything for you. Just put it in the dashboard. That's fine. No, we are not going to hold anything for you. I don't need it anymore. You can put it in the dashboard. That's fine. Just need you to step out. I'm good. Ma'am, we know you're good. We heard you, but you need to step out so we can see if you're good. Okay, I know you're fine. Just exit the car then. It's not going to help. I don't have to ask. Yes, you do. We're giving you a walk. You were You were involved in an accident. You're going to have to or we're going to assist you make you exit. So, you better off just exit. Are you going to exit or no? All right. You need to exit. I will be fine. Okay. Whoever this is, She say she knows you. She say you text her. Me. She's my friend. Okay. So, exit the vehicle then. No, I'm not leaving the vehicle. Ma'am, if you don't exit the vehicle, if you don't exit the vehicle, I'm going to help you to exit. And you don't want that. You don't want that. I elected official. I actually do. Elected official of what? Cook County. Cook County. You're elected with which which office? What's your name? I'm Sam. Sam who? Hey, Sergeant. Is it okay for her friend tells her to walk out to step out? No, she's saying she's an elected official of Cook County. I'm on the video. Oh, you are on video. You are on video. You are on video, man. On video. Yes, ma'am. So, you need to I'll wait for my attorney. Okay. Nope. I'm waiting for my attorney. So, she's not exiting. We're going to have to make her exit. And we do she is not compliant right now as you can see. Does she Does she say she's an elected official of something? We don't even know. Does she need to be compliant at this moment? Of course she does. Well, I mean, can she wait? Can she wait for her attorney? No. Well, regardless of an accident, even if the attorney is here, there's nothing he's going to tell her. She was involved in an accident and we're doing our investigation and obviously she doesn't want to. Ma'am, okay, here's the thing. You were involved in an accident, correct? So, you're going to have to exit. If you don't exit, then we're going to make you exit. Hey, that car. Can you give her an all you have to do? That's the attorney. That's all you have to exit. That's okay. Exit. You need to get out of the car. Yes, do that. That's all you got to do. And then wait for me. I'll be there in 10 minutes. I'm waiting for him. Yeah, you got to come out. Get out of the car. I'll be careful. Traffic. Stay right here. Right here. We don't want you to go out. Get involved in the exit. Okay. Fine. Now, you can hang up the phone, ma'am. No, we're still doing our investigation. Attorney. Okay. Now tell your attorney since he's on the phone. Are you going to do field sobriety test or no? No. Okay. Are you being arrested? You say no. I was waiting for that. I was waiting for that. We waiting for that. Have to arrest her because she refused. I asked her to do field sobriety test and she refused. And she smelled like alcohol. She's been drinking. We can Oh, so you've been recorded all this time. You've been recording. Yeah. All right. Okay. No, I want you feel they're arresting me. Okay. I I'll be there in 5 minutes. They just want to wait until I get there. You're not going to wait. Let's go. You've been transported. She's not doing the detail. She's under arrest right now. Give her my purse. Take her purse. Take the purse. Thank you. I'm not going. Okay. 0631. Can Can he go? Can you give him 5 minutes? We're not giving you many minutes. She's not doing the field, so we're not going to be uh drinking. She's struck bunch of cars. Okay. She's struck bunch of cars. We're taking you in. Come on, ma'am. Let's go. Have a seat, please. Can we just like No. No, we're not. We're going to sit with That's why That's You got Uber. You got taxi. You could have done all that. Have a seat in the car. Let's go. Have a seat in the car. Have a seat. Have a seat. Let me get on your side. Have a seat, miss. I can't. She's in. All right. You got a small You got a small wrist. No, we have to. You want to do the field? You want to do the feel? We ask you to do it and you say no. You're saying you guys are tired. Oh, I do feel so. All right. Come on. Give me a chance. This way. This way. This way. Sam. Okay. Turn this way, please. Sam. Sam. So, you wearing lenses? You wear glasses. Do you have them on right now? I have contact. Can you see me without Can you see me with them? Okay. You I can cannot see like All right. So now, how's your head? You have any injuries? Your head is You hit your head when I don't know what good means. So, you want an EMS? You want to call an ambulance? Yes. You want us to call an ambulance for you? Okay, we'll call an ambulance. I can do the sobriety. You could do it. You sure? Okay. No. So, I want an ambulance. Both feet together like this. Call an ambulance. Yeah. Yes. I would like an ambulance. Put both feet together. I would like an ambulance. Yes. I can put both feet together. Hands together like this. Like I need an ambulance. Okay. Listen, you under arrest. That's weird. But yes. Okay. Just letting you know you're under arrest. So now when we go to the hospital, you're still under arrest. Okay. I'm going to make a Yeah, we use 1528 for this. I'm going turn off the car. You're too patient. 5020 North comes back to somebody else. Yeah, got that on. That's good stuff, too. What happened to that? What happened? Just what happened? I don't know. It's I was driving. Okay. Where were you coming from? Location. Where you coming from, my friend? Are you northwest? Not just Yeah, it's fine. Where were you? Were you drinking? No. No. No. Are you uh You don't answer any questions. According to ma'am, if you're going to be in trucking, they probably haven't said yet cuz you're interfering right now in the investigation. Fine. So, what what happened just right now here? They pulled me out of my car. I know, but where were you coming from prior to that? They pulled me out of the car. I don't know. Okay. Hi. Are you like uh did you take any meds today? No. No alcohol coming out of your mouth? Yes, I'll do Excuse me. A test. It's It's up to you. I'll do a test. I just want to see if you're like safe to go home. You have to submit like a few tests for me. Are you willing to do it? It's up to you. I'm not forcing you. It's up to you. No waiting right now. Either you do it. Yes. Simple yes or no. No. You don't want to do it? No. My I already have enough to like take my attorney will be here. Your attorney's on the way. He would like to talk to this officer. Her attorney would like to talk to this officer. Right behind the ambulance. He's right behind the ambulance. Okay. Uh you know the she could call at the station. So does she Did you put her in the ticket? Yeah. Yeah. We got pictures of everything. Okay. On the police. Okay. I It is what it is I mean I smell alcohol so it is what it is. You're going to get under arrest for DUI. No. What do you mean no? No. I mean what do you mean no? No. Wait for my attorney. What do you mean no? Talk to my attorney. Yes. We're going to wait here. No. She He could come to the station. She's going to get under arrest for here. He's parking his car. Just stand up. Ma'am, no. 315. I'm going to put down my a report that you refusing fuel sobriety test. Okay. So, by I got enough here. Honored. She refused. So, uh I got enough. Yeah. Once we go to the station station. No, she going to go to She said she want to go to the hospital. You want to go to the hospital? What? What do you mean no? We call an ambulance. We just wasted time. You want medical attention? We just wasted their time. You don't want to go. I want my attorney. All right. Just take it in. We should go. Stand up. It's not He's not having your way, man. You asked for ambulance. You wasted these fine people. You just refused them. I want to see the answer. You got to let her see the answer. No, but hold on. You're under arrest. You're under arrest. You got a very small wrist. So, make sure you call her. Under arrest. Make sure you call. She has very small wrist. Careful. Make it loose. That alcohol smells strong. You put Why would you It's a half empty. Oh my god. It's half empty. The bottle of wine is half empty. Uh Samantha, so Oh my god, you guys are You drink it. I mean, it's illegal to drink and drive. So, we would have open alcohol in the car, you know. Can I go with you? Oh, here comes the attorney saving the day. She's going to have Oh, he coming right now. You got to go ahead. No, I need to see my attorney. The cops. Okay. I don't No. My attorney, sir. She's been uh placed in custody for driving under the influence of alcohol. She struck bunch of vehicles right there. That's her open bottle of wine in the car. So I didn't drink it. Say anything. Okay. Don't say anything. Listen to him. Has she been mirandized? Is she not mirandizing her? Nothing. She refused the field. So now we going to take her. She going to she going to go to an ambulance and then uh they're going to go with her and we still got to do How many cars did she crash into apartment? Two cars. Her car is not driveable. So we have to tow it from the scene. All right. Over there, please. Thank you, Sam. You want me to send it over? We're just going to have a seat on this. Samantha Steel is a commissioner on the Cook County Board of Review, the office responsible for deciding property tax appeals in one of the nation's largest counties. Despite holding public office, she became the subject of controversy following her DUI arrest in late 2024. She was charged with misdemeanor DUI after allegedly crashing into parked cars and refusing field sobriety tests. As a result, her driver's license was initially suspended. However, during a court hearing in February 2025, her attorney argued that police failed to properly inform her of the legal consequences of refusing the sobriety test. The judge sided with the defense and granted Steel's request to have her license reinstated while the case is still ongoing. Although she remains in office, the incident has sparked public concern about accountability and whether elected officials should be held to a higher standard, both legally and ethically. For more real life body cam footage and police encounters, subscribe to Body Cam Stories and tap the bell icon to stay updated.