June 7, 2021 – 7:41 p.m.
New Jersey City police body camera footage
in March shows her struggling to complete a field sobriety test and calling for Public Safety Director James Shea to come to the scene of the crash.
The 17 body cam videos, obtained by The Jersey Journal in a public records request, span close to an hour after police responded to Cunningham striking at least two parked cars on Culver Avenue, not far from her home.
Cunningham is seen in the video struggling to follow a police officer’s directions as he conducts a field sobriety test. She then ignores the officer to request Shea come out to the scene.
“What does Director Shea have to do with anything right now?” the officer asked.
“Because I can see you are looking for something that isn’t there,” Cunningham responded.
It appears that none of the officers called Shea. City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione did not respond to a request for comment on the videos.
When the officer finally gets Cunningham to continue the sobriety test, she then stops abruptly due to feeling “unsteady.”
“I asked if you had any medical conditions, you said ‘no’ and now while we are doing the test now you are feeling unsteady,” the officer asked.
“You can feel unsteady at any time,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham further explained to the officer that she thought she initially was fine.
“I could see now that I am not as steady as I should be,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Former Gov. Jim McGreevey, a friend of Cunningham, told The Jersey Journal in March that the crash was caused by a reaction to her prescription medication. But the video shows that when asked by officers if she was on any medication, she said no.
Throughout the videos she can be seen talking slowly, slurring her words and appearing to be confused when asked what street she is on, what happened and how it occurred.
“Have you had anything to drink today? No? Is there a reason you’re swaying, and you have slurred speech, and having difficulty to perform basic directions?” an officer asked after Cunningham continued to drop cards from her wallet while searching for her license.
“The problem is I am very cold,” Cunningham said.
