The body camera footage from the arrest of former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has been released.
The video was released days after reports that Romo was arrested on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, The Dallas Morning News reported.
KXAS reported that Romo said he was on his way to meet his grandparents when he was pulled over and had just left a golf tournament.
He said he had consumed “zero” drinks before his Milwaukee-area stop.
The deputy told Romo she pulled him over for “unsafe passing on the right” and for cutting across a marked area.
The deputy asked Romo to step out of the SUV and requested he do a field sobriety test, with the former quarterback saying he would like to call his lawyer, a request denied by the deputy because it was an OWI investigation.
Romo asked the deputy, “Because I’m coming from a golf course, you think I’m drunk?”
The deputy handcuffed him, saying she was detaining him for possible OWI and would be taking him to a flat surface to perform the sobriety tests.
He got into the cruiser and was taken to a nearby police station.
Another clip showed him getting out of the car with the deputy explaining that he appeared impaired because of “red, glassy eyes” and “the odor of an intoxicating alcoholic beverage from your breath.”
The deputy claimed to have found small containers of alcohol in his bag, which he asked, “Any of them drank?”
The deputy then told him to do the field sobriety tests.
Romo requested to “do exercises” before performing the test because he claimed the drive aggravated his back injuries, KXAS reported. He was permitted to stretch for about 20 seconds.
A deputy asked if he had any recent head injuries or concussions, to which Romo responded, “Over the years, yes, but not recently.”
Romo then did several tests over a 12-minute period.
After the physical tests, the deputy asked Romo to submit to a breath test, which he declined.
“Oh no. We’re not doing that,” Romo said. “I’ve heard from multiple lawyers, ‘Don’t ever do that.’ So, we’re not going to do that.”
He asked if he passed the test, but the deputy put him in handcuffs, saying he was under arrest.
The deputy said because he refused the breath test, “we have to apply for a search warrant and have a judge sign off on it ... so we’re going to get a test on you,” People magazine reported.
Romo responds, “Are you joking?”
The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office said in the report that Romo “performed poorly” on the sobriety tests but did not go into detail.
The Dallas Morning News reported that he was cited for refusing to take a test for intoxication.
It is a traffic violation, not a criminal charge, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office said. No other charges were filed as of Tuesday, according to the newspaper.
Romo requested a hearing to challenge the citation. The hearing is scheduled for September.
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