Video shows Miami Gardens police sergeant arrested for drunk driving – NBC 6 South Florida

A new video shows the arrest of a Miami Gardens police sergeant for drunk driving and reckless driving earlier this year.

The bodycam video, which NBC6 exclusively obtained, shows Sergeant Andrea Smith in high heels and a dress being arrested by her own department.

“Are you serious, Sergeant, are you serious?” a Miami Gardens officer asks Smith in the video when he realizes that the woman he stopped was his colleague.

Smith, who has been with the Miami Gardens Police Department for nearly 10 years, was observed speeding in her white Mercedes on March 14.

According to a report, the Mercedes ran a red light and then sped through another.

After officers stopped the car and approached it with their guns drawn, they found the driver, Smith, with bloodshot and watery eyes, slurred speech and smelled of alcohol, the report said.

Records indicate that Smith allegedly refused to participate in sobriety tests. However, video footage shows that Smith initially agreed to participate in the tests, but the Miami Gardens officer abruptly stopped them.

“They told me Miramar was going to take over. They told me to stop. My sergeant told me to stop,” an officer is heard telling Smith.

The arrest documents further state that a Miramar officer also noticed the odor of alcohol, and Smith refused a breathalyzer test.

“The arrest of Sergeant Andrea Smith is nothing short of a judicial travesty. Not only do the videos show that she did not have bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, unsteady gait and/or an inability to communicate intelligently, but Sergeant Smith also agreed to complete all sobriety exercises,” said Mark Lefcourt, an attorney representing Smith. “The Miami Gardens Police Department specifically offered her these exercises, she agreed, but then the MGPD officer refused to give them to her.”

Smith was jailed for two traffic violations.

On the way to jail, Smith said her department treated her “like an animal” and told the officer driving her, “If they can put a sergeant in jail, they can put you in jail.”

Sometimes Smith would fall asleep in the police car. But when she was awake, she would give financial advice to the officer driving her and boast about her success: “Make your money and get out of here.”

“I’m not crazy. I’m sober,” Smith once said in the back seat of the police car.

Smith has pleaded not guilty and her lawyer claims that more will come to light as the trial progresses.

“This appears to be nothing more than retaliation for being a whistleblower,” Lefcourt said.

Smith was relieved of duty by the Miami Gardens Police Department.