Maryland GOP leader disputes DUI charge with state trooper in police video

Finding videos takes time and effort, keep me motivated by donating to https://paypal.me/thisisbutter
-----
Maryland State Police videos released to Spotlight on Maryland show the traffic stop that resulted in drunken driving charges for a leading Republican state lawmaker.

Spotlight on Maryland filed multiple public records requests over several months requesting footage of a mid-June traffic stop involving Maryland House Minority Leader Del. Jason Buckel, at Allegany County Republican.

Maryland State Police released nearly two hours of body camera footage from the traffic stop in response to the records request. Police also provided videos from the responding vehicle’s interior and exterior fixed cameras.

The video showed Buckel being pulled over after a trooper ran the legislator’s tag through a police database, which showed he was driving on a suspended license. While Buckel commended the trooper’s handling of the traffic stop multiple times, he equally protested the grounds for the stop.

“I have to be bluntly honest,” Buckel said. “[My ex-wife] lives with trooper [redacted] ten minutes ago. A minute after that, I was pulled over in a car in my hometown.”

Multiple media outlets reported in 2021 that criminal harassment charges were filed against Buckel for allegedly sending threatening messages to a trooper. Divorce records from that year show that the legislator accused the trooper of having an extramarital affair with Buckel’s then-wife.

Buckel filed an MSP complaint of “unbecoming conduct” against the trooper. The trooper and Buckel later agreed to drop their legal pursuits as a part of an undisclosed settlement agreement.

FOX45 News reported in August 2023 that the Republican House leader was again under investigation for allegedly making a death threat against the same trooper a month prior. An Allegany County Combined Criminal Investigations Unit report found Buckel purportedly said he was going to “[put] a bullet” in the back of the head of the trooper in an alleged relationship with his ex-wife.

The legislator told FOX45 News in an hour-long phone interview at the time that “any ‘publicity’ regarding [the] situation [was] merely an effort at playing dirty politics and is without merit.” Allegany County’s detectives closed the investigation without criminal charges against either party.

Meanwhile, in June’s traffic stop video, the legislator expressed similar concerns while being processed by the responding trooper, who was unrelated to Buckel’s prior contact with law enforcement.

“And this isn’t something that is publicized,” Buckel asked. “One of your supervisors is extremely averse to me and has filed multiple criminal charges against me that have been dismissed by state’s attorney offices, so I’m a little concerned about that.”

The trooper’s vehicle dashboard and bodycam footage showed the legislator appearing to have difficulty performing several roadside field sobriety tests. Buckel again questioned the validity of the traffic stop after these tests. The trooper said he “wasn’t going to play the game” as he is seen leading the legislator to his vehicle to explain how he identified that his license was suspended.

Buckel registered a blood alcohol content of 0.108 during a preliminary breath test, which led to his arrest. However, those tests are not admissible in state court proceedings.