A Democratic Rhode Island senator has been caught stumbling over his words after getting pulled over for allegedly driving under the influence.
Progressive state Rep. Enrique Sanchez, 28, was pulled over in the early morning hours of February 3, after allegedly parking his car in an intersection in Cranston, Rhode Island.
Police officers noticed he remained stopped at a traffic light even after the light turned green, as reported by the Rhode Island Current.
Officer Chavelle Lopez wrote in the arrest report that Sanchez ‘seemed confused’ when stopped, initially handing over a red debit card instead of his driver’s license before insisting he hadn’t been drinking.
She noted she could smell ‘a heavy odor of alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath’ while Sanchez was speaking and observed he had ‘bloodshot watery eyes.’
A second officer, Austin Smith, can be heard on bodycam footage bluntly telling Sanchez: ‘You reek of booze.’
‘How much you drink?’ the officer bluntly asks Sanchez in the footage. ‘You reek of booze, just be honest. You smell like alcohol.’
The shocking bodycam footage captured the moment the clearly intoxicated lawmaker fumbled over his words – before later taking a mugshot with his eyes closed.
The young lawmaker, first elected in 2022, appeared disoriented as both officers repeatedly questioned whether he had been drinking.
‘You’re acting like you had something,’ Smith tells Sanchez in the video.
Despite the obvious signs of intoxication, Sanchez shook his head, insisting he had not consumed alcohol.
However, he admitted to taking Adderall for his ADHD, which he later claimed at the police station ‘impacts his mental health and his driving,’ according to the police report.
Sanchez told officers he was ‘trying to hop on the highway’ returning home to Providence from a friend’s house in Central Falls – a route that wouldn’t have made sense given where he was pulled over in Cranston, Officer Lopez pointed out.
Sanchez was also caught repeatedly stuffing his hands in his pockets despite multiple orders from police to keep them visible – which is a standard safety protocol during traffic stops.
Sanchez has now been ordered to install a breathalyzer in his vehicle after he was arrested for drunk driving in the embarrassing incident caught on police bodycam.
When asked to take a field sobriety test, the confused lawmaker asked if he could simply order an Uber instead. After being informed that wouldn’t be an option, Sanchez refused to take the test.
‘If I request to do so, can I order Uber?’ he asked in response to whether he would take the test.
‘You can say ‘no’ to the test, but you’re not going to order an Uber,’ the officer responded.
He was arrested and put in jail overnight.
Despite the evidence, Sanchez pleaded not guilty to driving while intoxicated in his initial court appearance.
He has since pleaded not guilty to lesser civil charges of refusing a chemical test and failure to obey traffic control devices.
Court documents obtained by Fox News reveal that on February 19, Cranston Magistrate William Noonan suspended Sanchez’s license but granted him a limited ‘hardship license.’
The ‘hardship license’ allowed him to drive to his day job and the State House between 8am and 8pm – but only after installing an ignition interlock breathalyzer in his vehicle.
The case has since been moved from district court to the state’s Superior Court following a brief pre-trial conference on February 24.
Calls for Sanchez’s resignation emerged following his arrest.
After a week of silence, the lawmaker finally addressed the incident in a thread on X on February 10 – although he did not apologize or admit to drunk-driving.
‘To the people of Rhode Island, I want to begin by thanking you for your patience. More importantly, I want to acknowledge that my first duty is to the remarkable working people of House District 9, Providence and across the state- the people who placed their trust in me to be their voice when they elected me two times these last few years.’
‘Representing them in the General Assembly has been the greatest honor of my life, and I have always fought passionately to protect their interests. Whether standing against legislation that threatens their financial well-being or advocating for policies that uplift our community, my focus has always been on them.
‘I love my work and the work I do to help better the lives of all the people of this state. I will not let my personal actions become a distraction from the issues that truly matter—the families, businesses, and concerns of my community.
‘These last few days, many of my constituents, supporters and the people have reached out to reinforce their support for my leadership. I am thankful and grateful for the people of this state.
‘Sometimes, we are too close to something to fully see our place in it. This experience has given me a renewed clarity about my responsibilities—not just in this chamber, but in the trust my community has placed in me.
‘I take that trust seriously and will continue to work hard every day of my life. I will continue to serve as a voice for the people of this state. I believe in the people of Providence and all of Rhode Island, in their resilience and their vision for a better future. Our state has the power to drive meaningful social change, and I want to live my values both as a legislator and as a citizen of this great community.’