A Democratic elected official in New Jersey who was stopped by a police officer during a traffic stop suffered a total meltdown after being pulled over.
Paulsboro Councilman Theodore D. Holloway II reportedly ran a stop sign in Philadelphia earlier this month, according to a public records request from NJ.com.
In the footage, Holloway is seen cursing at the officer from the driver’s seat of his van and repeatedly referencing his political office. “You can’t be serious. I want to know what exactly are you getting behind me for?” Holloway inquired, whilst denying that he had run a stop sign.
Holloway then threatened to call the cop’s boss. “Don’t think I ain’t going to talk to Gary about this,” he said, referring to the chief. The officer shrugged off the threat; Holloway shouted, “I’m the one that hired you!”
When the policeman shrugged off the threat, Holloway shouted, “I’m the one that hired you!”
“You actually pulled over an elected official,” Holloway continued, attempting to call the police chief from his cell phone.
“You’re not pulling over a random. You’re pulling over your boss. I am literally your boss.”
Holloway referred to his elected office when the police officer’s supervisor arrived at the scene.
“You know who I am, right?” Holloway asked.
Paulsboro Mayor John Giovannitti confirmed that government officials for the community had been briefed on the matter, adding that Holloway was spoken to following the incident.
“We’ve spoken to him with our legal team and went over the issues that we had, and I just think it was an unfortunate incident that shouldn’t have happened,” Giovannitti said. “It’s never happened in the past and can’t happen again.”
The official acknowledged that “it’s not the response that an elected official should share with our police,” characterizing Holloway as a dedicated member of the borough council.
Holloway was issued a citation for “driving or parking [an] unregistered motor vehicle.”
