Bruce Springsteen is due to appear before a magistrate judge in New Jersey for his DWI arrest case on Feb. 24, Fox News reports. Springsteen was arrested for DWI, reckless driving, and consuming alcohol in a closed area in Gateway National Recreation Area on November 14.
Park Ranger R.L. Hayes says he saw the musician “consume a shot of Patron tequila” before getting on his motorcycle to “start the engine.” Hayes then claims he told the New Jersey native that drinking on the park premises was not allowed. “Springsteen refused to take a preliminary breath test (PBT), despite signs of intoxication namely after testing his gaze and walk and turn tests,” said the park ranger in the report. “The Patron bottle that the shot was poured out of was completely empty (750ml),” he continued. “I asked Springsteen if he was leaving and he confirmed that he was going to drive out of the park.”
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The ranger continued in the report, detailing the Springsteen’s signs of intoxication”[He] smelt strongly of alcohol coming off his person and had glassy eyes,” the report states. He claims Springsteen was “visibly swaying back and forth while I observed his eyes.” He also said, “I observed five out of eight clues on the walk and turn test. Springsteen took 45 total steps during the walk and turn instead of the instructed 19.”
Asbury Park Press reports the musician’s alcohol content level was at 0.02, which is the equivalent of one drink and one-fourth of New Jersey’s legal limit. The New York Times claims because he was arrested in a National Park, Springsteen will be facing federal prosecutors.
The news comes on the heels of Jeep’s announcement to pull their Super Bowl ad with the star –– which allegedly had been 10 years in the making. “It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of a matter we have only read about and we cannot substantiate,” a spokesperson for Jeep said. “But it’s also right that we pause our Big Game commercial until the actual facts can be established. Its message of community and unity is as relevant as ever. As is the message that drinking and driving can never be condoned.”
The ad followed the musician as he traveled throughout the Midwest with a message uniting people from all backgrounds. “Fear has never been the best of who we are,” he said in the spot. “We just have to remember the very soil we stand on is common ground. So we can get there. We can make it to the mountaintop, through the desert …and we will cross this divide.”
