Rhode Island Police just released body cam footage of when the city councilman was caught sleeping behind the wheel with a crack pipe in his hand and also cocaine in his pocket.
Cranston City Councilman Matthew Reilly was arrested Monday after being spotted by someone that was driving by. The person contacted authorities and once they arrived to the scene they noticed the 41-year-old councilman passed out in the driver seat. An officer can be heard on the footage saying, “You have a crack pipe in your hands.”
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“You were literally choking in your sleep,” the officer said. “Somebody literally sprinted and flagged me down because they thought you were choking.” Reilly, who was the chairman of the Cranston Republican Party, appeared disoriented but cooperated with police as he was questioned. According to Reiley, he has been clean for 13 years but relapsed because he’s going through a bad divorce with his ex. He initially denied having drugs in his car but later allegedly admitted to buying $100 worth of crack cocaine the day before.
“It was a relapse,” Reilly reportedly told police. “I’ve been clean for 13 years.”
“I just got back into this,” he was said to have added.
The bodycam footage shows Reilly receiving a medical evaluation before he was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police cruiser.
He was charged with one count of possession of a Schedule 2 narcotic.
Reilly resigned from the city council, Cranston Mayor Kenneth Hopkins announced Thursday.
“Early this morning my office assisted Matt Reilly and filed his letter of resignation from the Cranston City Council as the Ward Six councilmember. Matt made the right decision to step down so that he can focus his full attention on his well-being and young family,” Hopkins said in a statement to WJAR.