NAPLES, Fla. — Newly released video footage and 911 audio are giving insight into what led up to the arrest of Naples Mayor Teresa Heitmann, who was taken into custody on Wednesday evening.
Naples Police say they responded to a 911 call from a man who reported a woman in a silver car following him and his wife home. The caller said the woman claimed to be the mayor and looked like she was drunk.
"911, what is your emergency?" the dispatcher asked. "Yeah, um, I think the mayor is drunk," the caller said.
In the audio obtained by FOX 4, the caller said Heitmann followed him several blocks.
"And she's literally almost running into my Jeep and followed me home. And now she's standing outside talking to me face to face. She seems intoxicated," the caller said. In the background, Heitmann can be heard saying, "I am not."
When officers arrived, they found Heitmann standing outside the home on 16th Avenue South. They stated she was slurring her words and began to test if she was drunk.
Dash camera video shows Heitmann saying she only had a glass of wine and that she did nothing wrong. But she failed three sobriety tests, and could not walk in a straight line.
"You’re slurring your words a little bit here," an officer is heard saying in the video. "No, sir, I am not slurring my words – I have sat here calmly," Heitmann said. The officer replied, "Calmly is a loose term. I've heard you yelling at my officers." Heitmann replied, "I did not yell at them!"
Heitmann was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. She was taken to the Naples Jail Center, where she spent the night. Her car was towed away.
The Naples Police Department says a breathalyzer test showed her blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit.
FOX 4 has reached out Mayor Heitmann's office for comment but has not heard back.
See Mahmoud Bennet's FOX 4 Friday Report Below:
Original Report 9am Friday August 30th:
Newly released video footage and 911 audio are giving insight into what led up to the arrest of Naples Mayor Teresa Heitmann, who was taken into custody on Wednesday evening.
The incident occurred around 9:51 p.m. near 16th Avenue S and 3rd Street S, where a 911 caller reported that he and his wife were followed home by a woman in a silver vehicle.
In the 911 call, a man is heard telling police that the woman almost hit them. In the audio you can also hear Heitmann in the background denying she did anything wrong.
The subsequent footage, later taken and released by the Naples Police Department, shows Mayor Heitmann being questioned in front of a driveway, seemingly confused. In the video, Heitmann struggles to perform field sobriety tests as officers instruct her.
Heitmann was placed under arrest and spent the night the Naples Jail Center. She was released on Thursday morning.
Previous Reporting:
