Crime & Safety
Jersey City State Senator Charged With DWI In Thursday AM Crash
This is the second time state Sen. Sandra Cunningham has been charged with DWI. She pleaded guilty to a 2005 arrest in Liberty State Park.
JERSEY CITY, NJ — A state Senator from Jersey City was charged with driving while intoxicated Thursday morning and placed under arrest by the Jersey City Police Department.
The state Senator is Sandra Bolden-Cunningham, a Democrat who has represented New Jersey's 31st legislative district since 2007. She represents Bayonne and most of Jersey City. She is the wife of the late Glenn Cunningham, the first Black mayor of Jersey City, and she ran for office after his death.
Jersey City Police say that at 9:34 Thursday morning, Cunningham was driving her Infiniti G35X SUV west on Culver Avenue when she sideswiped two cars, both of which were parked and unoccupied at the time, according to an incident report obtained by Patch.
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She told police, "I was coming down the street when I was about to make a turn, and instead turned into a snowbank."
She was charged with driving while intoxicated. Police said she was given a blood alcohol test and the results are pending. Cunningham lives near where the crash occurred.
Find out what's happening in Jersey Cityfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey, who worked for years for Jersey City's second-chance convicted prisoners' rehabilitation program, picked Cunningham up from the police station Thursday afternoon, NJ.com reported.
“My sense is that it was a reaction to medication and not in any way connected with alcohol," he told the news outlet.
This is also the second time Cunningham has been charged with DWI.
Police say she was driving while intoxicated in Liberty State Park in November 2005; she had a blood alcohol reading of .18, according to NJ.com. A year later, Cunningham pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and paid a $708 fine.
At the time, she told the Hudson Reporter it was the result of “a couple of glasses of wine” while having brunch with friends at a nearby restaurant ... This is out of character for me, and a mistake.”
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