By Jerry Jordan, Editor
SAG HARBOR, N.Y. – Despite published reports from TMZ.com that NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France “name-dropping all of the powerful people he knew” during his arrest on charges of aggravated driving while intoxicated and criminal possession of a controlled substance charges by the Sag Harbor Village Police Department, the chief of police, A.J. McGuire, confirmed to Kickin’ the Tires, on Wednesday, that the reports were “absolutely false.”
“Yeah, that is absolutely false,” McGuire said, while sitting behind his desk on the second floor of the police department. “None of that ever happened.”
In fact, McGuire said France was a “gentleman” and complied with the officer’s commands Sunday night after being pulled over for running the stop sign where Main Street and Wharf Street connect in the town of about two square miles.
McGuire said if France has a prescription for the pills it will be something he, or his attorney, can address with the prosecutor. McGuire explained that New York law requires prescriptions to be in the proper prescription container.A copy of the partially redacted police report, completed by Officer Kampf, who arrested France, stated France was operating a 2017 Lexus, “in an intoxicated condition, as his breath smelled of an intoxicating beverage, his eyes were watery and bloodshot. He was unsteady on his feet and he did perform poorly on several stand field sobriety test including a pre-screening device that registered a (redacted) BAC (blood alcohol content). Defendant was placed under arrest and upon a lawful search found (5) Oxycodone pills in his right front pocket without having a proper prescription.”
“I don’t know if they were prescribed to him but they were found loose in his pocket,” McGuire said. “Even if he had a script, if they weren’t in the proper container, he would be charged as he was.”
Arrest and processing procedures include asking a person where they work and that was the only time France mentioned his employment with NASCAR,” McGuire said.
“That was the only time he (France) mentioned that he was employed by NASCAR and that was all he said,” he said.
The traffic stop was, by all accounts routine, and the fact that France is a wealthy and iconic figure in the sports world didn’t result in him being treated any differently than any other person previously arrested by the department.
“It was a pretty standard arrest that we had, Mr. France failed to stop at a stop sign,” McGuire explained. “He was pulled over. The officer that was interviewing him noticed signs of intoxication, umm, he was asked to exit his vehicle where he took three field sobriety tests, performed poorly on those tests and was subsequently taken into custody.
“He was brought back to the police station at Sag Harbor, where he submitted to an Intoxilyzer test (a device used to test a person’s breath to determine blood alcohol levels), which he failed, as well. During arrest processing the officer actually had no idea who he was. He was very cooperative and apparently he was a gentleman during the whole thing. We hate to call traffic stops routine but in this case, it was pretty routine for a normal garden-variety violation. We run the gamut here (regarding the socio-economic level of people arrested) but we usually deal with people who are affluent, I guess would be the word. And like I said, it was a pretty garden-variety arrest, you know, unfortunately for Mr. France.”
The aggravated charge for the DWI is still a misdemeanor under New York law but indicates France’s blood alcohol content was allegedly greater than .18 percent. He voluntarily submitted to the Intoxylizer test despite there being no legal requirement for him to do so because there was no injury or death involved.
After France was taken to the department for processing, fingerprinting and having his mugshot taken; he was placed in a small jail cell – one of two at the department – with a metal toilet and sink combination unit, a wooden bench, a roll of toilet paper and a recessed light. France was also given a yellow plastic blanket to use to keep warm.
An attempt to speak with France’s Sag Harbor-based attorney, Edward Burke Jr., whose office is located about 150 yards from the police department on Main Street was unsuccessful. Burke is known for representing high profile celebrities, including former NBC Today Show host Matt Lauer, celebrity chef Todd English and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Grubman, a New York publicist who served 38 days of a 60-day sentence after backing father’s Mercedes Benz SUV into a crowd of people outside a nightclub in the Hamptons and fled the scene in 2001.
Burke had clippings adorning the walls of his office entryway from the New York Post’s story on Grubman, as well as, several other news articles showing his celebrity clients. Asked through an assistant in the office if Burke would speak about representing France in the DWI and possession case, he declined because he was on a conference call. The assistant said Burke’s call was expected to last, at least, “an hour-and-a-half” putting well-beyond the workday.
On Monday, NASCAR disseminated a statement from France confirming that he is taking an indefinite leave of absence from his role at NASCAR. A separate statement confirmed that France’s uncle, Jim France, will assume the duties previously performed by Brian France as chairman and CEO.
Click for a copy of the Sag Harbor Police Department report involving Brian France
EDITOR’S NOTE: Chief McGuire confirmed the citizenship box was incorrectly marked on the report.