DASHCAM footage shows the moment a city mayor is arrested for allegedly driving while under the influence after running over a neighbor’s mailbox.
Teresa Heitmann, the mayor of Naples, Florida, was arrested on Wednesday evening after failing a sobriety test and driving with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit.
Naples police received a 911 call at around 10 pm from a couple saying they were followed home by a woman driving in a silver vehicle.
The couple told police the woman was claiming she was the city mayor.
“I think the mayor is drunk, and she just, she just literally… oh, she just drove over our mailbox,” the man is heading telling police.
The skeptical dispatcher asks the man if the woman is, in fact, the mayor, to which he replies, “I don’t know. She’s claiming to be the mayor.
“I don’t know who she is.”
When the man asks the woman for her name, the woman is overheard on the 911 call responding, “Mayor Teresa Heitmann.”
However, when cops arrived, Heitmann, 61, attempted to distance herself from the title.
“No, don’t call me mayor,” Heitmann is heard telling a cop on a police cruiser dashcam footage.
“I am Teresa Heitmann right now. I am not the mayor.”
Heitmann told police the couple cut off her in traffic, which sparked the dispute.
But, police believed Heitmann was intoxicated and decided to conduct a sobriety test, which the mayor agreed to.
Dashcam video showed Heitmann unable to keep her balance.
Naples police said the mayor’s blood alcohol level was twice the state’s legal limit.
Heitmann was arrested and charged with driving under the influence.
She was released on Thursday on $500 bond and is expected to be arraigned on September 18.
Heitmann has been the mayor of Naples since 2020 and was recently reelected in March.
Naples Councilmember Beth Petrunoff called Heitmann’s arrest “disappointing and painful.”
“It would be premature to make any comments on this matter until all the facts are known,” Petrunoff said in a statement to The U.S. Sun.
“This incident is disappointing for our community and I am sure this is disappointing and painful for our mayor and her family.
“My thoughts and prayers are with her and her family as she works through this.”
Petrunoff said Heitmann’s incident does not define her work and commitment to the community during her time in office.
“As a Council Member, I believe our Council is fully committed to delivering on the priorities of our citizens such as building resiliency,” Petrunoff added.
“We will not let this unrelated and unfortunate incident get in the way of our work that is so important to our community.”
