A drunk driver stopped by police told officers she should not be arrested because she was a “clean, thoroughbred white girl”.
Lauren Elizabeth Cutshaw, 32, was pulled over in the early hours of Saturday morning after she ran a stop sign at 60mph in a 30mph zone in Bluffton, South Carolina.
Officers noticed “the woman’s eyes were bloodshot and glossy, she was slurring her words, and there was a smell of alcohol coming from the car”, South Carolina news website The State reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Although Cutshaw claimed to have drunk only two glasses of wine, “when officers asked how much she filled the glasses, she responded, ‘I mean, I was celebrating my birthday’,” local newspaper the Island Packet reports.
A breathalyser showed she had more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in her system.
As officers prepared to take her into custody Cutshaw reeled off a laundry list of reasons why she should avoid arrest, including the fact that she had been a cheerleader and had a degree from a “highly accredited university”.
According to the police report, she is also said to have told officers that she was a “clean, thoroughbred white girl”, in what The Independent calls “a display of entitlement that will make you wince”.
When asked why she had brought up her race, she said: “You’re a cop, you should know what that means”.
The arresting officer noted that her line of reasoning was “unusual” and further evidence of her intoxication.
Despite her pleas, Cutshaw was booked into Beaufort County Detention Center. She faces charges of speeding, disregarding a stop sign, driving under the influence, marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
-
5 tips to save on heating billsThe Explainer Follow these expert recommendations for a cozy and cheap winter
-
Should you fire your financial adviser? 4 signs it's time to say goodbye.
The Explainer Breakups are never fun, but you have to protect your wallet
-
The daily gossip: Man arrested in connection with shooting of Tupac Shakur, an OceanGate movie is in the works, and more
Feature The daily gossip: September 29, 2023
-
What we know about the Copenhagen mall shooting
Speed Read Lone gunman had mental health issues and not thought to have terror motive, police say
-
Texas school shooting: parents turn anger on police
Speed Read Officers had to be urged to enter building where gunman killed 21 people
-
DJ Tim Westwood denies multiple sexual misconduct allegations
Speed Read At least seven women accuse the radio and TV presenter of predatory behaviour dating back three decades
-
What happened to Katie Kenyon?
Speed Read Man charged as police search for missing 33-year-old last seen getting into van
-
Brooklyn subway shooting: exploring New York’s ‘steep decline in law and order’
Speed Read Last week, a gunman set off smoke bombs and opened fire on a rush-hour train in the city
-
How the Capitol attack investigation is splitting the Republicans
Speed Read Vote to censure two Republican representatives has revealed deep divisions within party
-
Is sentencing a Nazi sympathiser to read Shakespeare an appropriate punishment?
Speed Read Judge seemed to think introducing student ‘to high culture’ would ‘magically make him a better person’ said The Daily Telegraph
-
Sarah Everard’s murder: a national reckoning?
Speed Read Wayne Couzen’s guilty plea doesn’t ‘tidy away the reality of sexual violence’
