Drunk Driving ICE Agent Arrested After Chaotic Bar Fight, NJ Police Say

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent was arrested for driving under the influence after a chaotic bar fight in Morris County, according to police records.

Michael A. Sclafani, 37, was arrested after an August incident in Jefferson that resulted in him drunkenly pulling his government vehicle into the middle of the road with its emergency lights on, an affidavit of probable cause reads.

On Aug. 24, just after midnight, police were called to McKenna's Bar in Jefferson on reports of a bar fight.

Authorities arrived to find that Morris County Sheriff's officers had already detained several suspects, including Sclafani. They also saw a government Dodge Durango pulled out in the middle of the road with its lights on, records show.

Bar patrons were making several claims of cocaine possession, a sexual assault, and a gun brandishing during the altercation, all of which investigators determined to be false, according to police. None of the commotion happened inside the bar, authorities added.

Two women involved in the altercation, as well as a man who was determined to have done nothing wrong, were released from police custody.

Sclafani, however, was told to stay on the scene.

According to Sclafani, he ran out of the bar because he was being "chased" and attacked because he is an ICE agent, the report reads. Authorities said his story was "evasive and vague," and that he was slurring his speech and struggling to keep his balance.

When Sclafani ran out of the bar, he got into his Dodge, pulled into the middle of the road, and activated his car's emergency lights, hoping to flag down a police officer, the affidavit reads. During the commotion, he falsely identified himself as a police officer, it adds.

Authorities decided to conduct a field sobriety test on Sclafani after he admitted to both drinking alcohol and driving his car.

Sclafani refused to cooperate with the tests, and officers, based on their own observations, decided to place him under arrest for driving while intoxicated, the affidavit reads.

After Sclafani was placed in the back of a patrol car, he was asked if he had any weapons, to which he became "agitated and verbally abusive," according to police records. He muttered that he may have his service weapon in his Dodge.

Jefferson police searched the Dodge, finding the service weapon, an ICE vest, ICE credentials, as well as both empty and full beer bottles, police records read.

Authorities took Sclafani to the station, where he was processed and refused to submit a breath sample, police said. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle, and refusal to submit breath samples for testing.

Jefferson police contacted Sclafani's supervisor with the Department of Homeland Security, who sent an agent to collect his vehicle, credentials, and service weapon.

Sclafani was released to a family member and given a court date. It's not clear if he is still employed by the federal agency.