Democratic Vice Presidential pick Tim Walz reportedly was arrested in 1995 after he was pulled over driving 96 miles per hour in a 55mph zone.
Walz, who was 31-years-old at the time, allegedly had a “strong odor of alcoholic beverage”, according to the officer who pulled him over.
After failing a field sobriety test and preliminary breath test, Walz was taken to a local jail in Dawes County, Nebraska.
“When Walz first ran for Congress in 2006 his opponents brought up the DUI – which, according to a court transcript obtained by Alpha News, was resolved in 1996 when he pled guilty to the state’s reduced charge of reckless driving,” the Independent reported.
Walz’s lawyer at the time told the judge that he was speeding because he believed the police officer was “chasing him.”
The Democrat allegedly “felt terrible” about the incident and was “real disappointed in himself”.
During his campaign run in 2006, Walz reportedly denied that he was ever drunk and claimed it was a misunderstanding between him and the state trooper who pulled him over for speeding.
“Walz was hard of hearing, a result of his years as an artillery soldier in the Army National Guard, and had trouble hearing the trooper,” Meredith Salsbery, communications director for the Walz campaign, told the NuJournal at the time.
“He couldn’t understand what the trooper was telling him during the field sobriety test, and the trooper refused to speak up,” Salsbery said.
