• DUI arrest footage involving a Washington state Democrat candidate
• Police questioning, sobriety tests, and refusal
• The Tacoma crash and damage to multiple vehicles
• Prosecutors’ refusal enhancement and breath test issues
• Crying and praying in the patrol car
• Political fallout and what the law allows
Washington state Democrat Krista Perez, who is running for a state House seat, is facing a wave of attention after police video showed her answering questions about a crash, admitting she had been drinking wine, and later breaking down in the back of a patrol car. The footage has put her campaign under a harsh spotlight, especially because it captured not just the arrest itself, but the raw, messy moments that followed.
Perez won the top spot in last month’s primary in the 29th Legislative District, Position 1, and she is now set to face incumbent state Rep. Melanie Morgan, also a Democrat, in the general election. That makes the arrest especially awkward, since the race is still live and the video is now part of the public conversation around her candidacy.
According to Tacoma police, Perez’s 2019 Chevrolet Silverado allegedly struck a parked car on South G Street shortly after midnight on August 11, triggering a chain reaction that damaged five vehicles. Prosecutors later charged her with DUI and added a refusal enhancement tied to the collision and a later encounter with police.
Body camera footage shows officers speaking with Perez after the crash and asking basic questions about what happened. Perez told police she did not understand what was going on and said she was not involved in an accident, even as the scene suggested otherwise.
“Did you get into an accident here?” an officer asked. “I did not,” Perez answered. When asked what happened, she replied, “I don’t know. I’ve never been in an accident before.” Those exchanges set the tone for the rest of the stop, which quickly became a tense back-and-forth over what she remembered, what she had been drinking, and whether she would cooperate.
Perez also told police she had changed insurers only weeks before the incident and was able to name the company when asked for documents. She said she had been driving from a friend’s business on Tacoma Avenue South when the collision happened. When asked if she had anything to drink, she said, “I just had some wine while I was there,” and later said it was one glass.
The questioning didn’t stop there. When the officer asked how big the glass was, Perez answered, “I think you might need to contact the business.” She was then asked to rate her sobriety on a scale from zero to 10, with zero meaning completely sober. After first saying she wanted to go home, she eventually rated herself a four.
The officer offered standardized field sobriety tests, making clear several times that they were voluntary. Perez declined and kept saying she wanted to go home, repeating that she was confused. “Not right now. I’d like to go home first,” she said, before the officer told her that choice was not going to happen before the test decision was made.
“You do have a choice. You can either say yes, or you can say no. They’re totally voluntary tests,” the officer explained. Perez then confirmed she was declining, and moments later she was told she was under arrest for DUI. “Hold on. Hold on. One second. Hold on,” she said as the arrest unfolded.
Under Washington law, roadside sobriety tests are not required, and refusing them is separate from the refusal enhancement prosecutors say applies in Perez’s case. The enhancement, according to the arrest report cited by local coverage, stems from what happened later at Tacoma Police headquarters, where officers said she did not provide a usable breath sample after three tries before the machine timed out.
Inside the patrol car, the footage turns even more emotional. Perez is seen sobbing, praying, and asking God for help as she cries for several minutes. “Help me, God. Help me. Help me. Holy Spirit, help me, God,” she said, sounding overwhelmed and shaken.
State law does not bar someone with a DUI charge from serving in the legislature, which means the case itself does not automatically knock Perez out of the race. That matters in a state where lawmakers have weathered public embarrassment before, including cases involving alcohol-related missteps that still ended with politicians keeping their seats and moving on.
Still, the video leaves a mark because it is so hard to spin away. The arrest, the refusal, the tears, and the prayer all landed in one package, and that kind of footage tends to linger long after the sirens fade. Campaigns can recover from plenty, but a patrol car video like this has a way of hanging around and changing the mood fast.
