A Washington Democrat found herself in police custody just one week after finishing first in a closely watched state House primary. Krista Perez was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence following an alleged five-vehicle collision in Tacoma on August 11th. Prosecutors subsequently charged her with DUI with an enhancement for refusing a breath test. Police footage shows Perez denying that she had been in an accident, acknowledging that she drank wine, declining voluntary field sobriety tests, and later crying and praying inside a patrol car.
Perez is running for Position 1 in Washington’s 29th Legislative District, which includes portions of Tacoma and the surrounding area. She finished first in the state’s August 4th primary and advanced to the November general election alongside incumbent Democratic state Rep. Melanie Morgan. Washington uses a top-two primary system, allowing both candidates to advance regardless of party. Perez received approximately 51.2% of the vote and defeated Morgan by roughly 380 votes.
The collision allegedly occurred shortly after midnight on August 11th, exactly one week after the primary. Tacoma police said Perez’s 2019 Chevrolet Silverado struck a parked vehicle on South G Street, setting off a chain reaction that damaged five vehicles. Officers located Perez at the scene and began questioning her about what had happened. She was subsequently arrested and booked into Pierce County Corrections on suspicion of DUI.
As CBS12 reported, Perez initially denied that she had been involved in a crash. “Did you get into an accident here?” an officer asked her. “I did not,” Perez answered. When the officer asked what had happened, she replied, “I don’t know. I’ve never been in an accident before.”
Perez told police that she’d been driving from a friend’s business on Tacoma Avenue South. “Did you have anything to drink tonight?” the officer asked. “I just had some wine while I was there,” Perez responded. The officer later asked whether she wanted to perform field sobriety tests, prompting Perez to ask whether she was allowed to decline them.
“You do have a choice. You can either say yes, or you can say no. They’re totally voluntary tests,” the officer explained. “Yeah, I would like to go home first,” Perez replied. After confirming that she was declining the tests, the officer informed her that she was under arrest for DUI and instructed her to place her hands behind her back. “Hold on. Hold on. One second. Hold on,” Perez said before repeatedly telling the officer that she did “not know what any of this means.”
Watch the arrest and patrol-car footage here:
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The refusal enhancement didn’t stem from Perez declining the roadside tests, which were voluntary. The New York Post reported that police later attempted to obtain a breath sample at Tacoma Police headquarters. According to the arrest report, Perez allegedly failed to provide a usable sample during three attempts before the breath-testing machine timed out. Prosecutors then filed the DUI charge with the refusal enhancement.
Footage recorded inside the patrol car shows Perez sobbing for several minutes after the arrest. She repeatedly prayed while seated in the back of the police vehicle and called on God for help. “Help me, God. Help me. Help me. Holy Spirit, help me, God,” Perez said. The video was released publicly several weeks after the collision and arrest.
Perez pleaded not guilty to the DUI charge and refusal enhancement during a September 18th arraignment in Tacoma Municipal Court. Judge Steven J. Krupa released her on her own recognizance, and a pretrial hearing is scheduled for October 30th. Washington law doesn’t automatically prohibit someone facing a DUI charge from running for or serving in the state legislature. The arrest didn’t remove Perez from the ballot, leaving her, at least for now, scheduled to face Morgan in the November 3rd general election for the state House seat.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.