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Cedric Richmond, former Biden aide and senior adviser to the Democratic National Committee, was not tested for driving while intoxicated, despite a police report revealing that he was slurring his speech after causing a single-car accident.
On April 23, Richmond was driving his young son in New Orleans when he reportedly crashed his vehicle into a tree. The two were injured, and Richmond was taken to the hospital in an emergency vehicle to be treated for a "suspected serious injury."
The police report stated that Richmond was "in a dazed, disoriented state" and slurring his speech after the incident. However, the former Biden aide was not tested for alcohol nor handed a traffic citation after totaling his car, given "the medical condition of the driver and the statement provided by the passenger of the vehicle."
Richmond's son reportedly told officers an orange Corvette caused them to drive off the road; however, no evidence of a speeding car of that description was found around the scene at the time of the incident.
"He’s using a debunked statement to justify not writing a citation," Anthony Radosti, a former New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) officer, claimed that using Richmond's son's testimony was an excuse for not writing a citation in a statement to The Times-Picayune and WWL-TV.
Cedric Richmond, left, senior adviser to President Biden and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, was behind the wheel when his car collided with a tree. (Drew Angerer)
The New Orleans police officer who conducted the report said that no test was conducted because he "did not detect an odor of alcoholic beverage" on Richmond, despite the other reported behavior.
Tim Lentz, former chief of the Covington Police Department, said his department referred cases with high-profile politicians uniquely, following reports that the police were immediately aware of Richmond's identity.
"We used to call these ‘APEs’ — acute political emergencies," Lentz said of the incident. "The officer in a case like this needs some guidance to make sure these kinds of mistakes don’t happen."
The NOPD also released a statement regarding questions surrounding the April crash.
Cedric Richmond works as an adviser for the Democratic National Committee. (Andrew Harnik)
"On April 23, 2023, the NOPD responded to a single-vehicle crash with injury at the intersection of North Claiborne Avenue and Lafitte Street," the department wrote. "As the responding officer in this incident, Officer Mark Miranda stated in his report that he did not detect an odor of alcoholic beverage emanating from the driver. Therefore, there was no reasonable suspicion of intoxication nor probable cause to conduct tests for impairment."
The department added that the "investigation into this incident meets the standards of the NOPD."
"Additionally, the driver was inside of an ambulance undergoing emergency treatment for injury from EMS on scene before being transported to a local hospital," the department said in the statement. "Issuance of a citation in a vehicle crash incident is done at the discretion of the officer, based on the findings of an initial investigation. As the incident involved a single-vehicle crash, coupled with the medical condition of the driver and the statement provided by the passenger of the vehicle, no citations were issued."
Former NOPD superintendent Ronal Serpas told new outlet Nola that while "it doesn’t look like he [Officer Miranda] objectively did anything wrong," an investigation should be conducted to make sure the department handled the situation correctly.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks with White House senior adviser Cedric Richmond during the Congressional baseball game at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 29, 2021. (Alex Brandon)
While Richmond did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment regarding the incident, the Democrat told WDSU that "the police report speaks for itself.
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"I'm fine, my son is fine, and the police report speaks for itself," Richmond, a former congressman from New Orleans, said in a phone interview.
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