Bruce Springsteen had a run-in with police officers last fall in New Jersey that resulted a driving while intoxicated (DWI) charge. News of the incident broke earlier this month and on Wednesday morning, Springsteen appeared in virtual court to for a scheduled arraignment. The singer plead guilty to one misdemeanor charge, but his more serious DWI and reckless driving charges were dropped.
Back on November 14th, Springsteen was on a motorcycle in Sandy Hook, New Jersey’s Gateway National Recreation Area. A police officer pulled him over and noted that he had a blood alcohol level of .02, well under the legal limit. “I had two small shots of tequila,” Springsteen told the judge during his hearing. But because drinking is prohibited in the area, the officer charged him with reckless driving, DWI, and consuming alcohol in a closed area.
According to AP News, prosecutors did not have sufficient evidence to convict Springsteen for driving while intoxicated and reckless driving, so they have decided to drop the charges altogether. However, because Springsteen plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge of consuming alcohol in the prohibited area, he’ll face a fine of $500 for the offense, plus $40 in court fees.
At the time that news broke of Springsteen’s arrest, he was just days away from appearing in a Jeep Super Bowl commercial. But because Jeep didn’t want someone with a DWI charge to appear in their ad, so they decided to pull it off the air. As a Jeep spokesperson had said, “It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of a matter we have only read about and we cannot substantiate. 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.”