New Details Emerge In Bruce Springsteen's DWI Arrest

SANDY HOOK, NJ – New details about what led to Bruce Springsteen's November DWI arrest at Gateway National Recreation Area on Sandy Hook have emerged, including his blood-alcohol content.

Springsteen only had a blood-alcohol content level of .02 – a quarter of the state’s legal limit of .08 – when he was arrested in November on drunk-driving charges, the Asbury Park Press reported late Wednesday.

Court documents obtained by Patch said The Boss was arrested after he drank a shot of tequila and then hopped on his motorcycle and started the engine. The bottle of liquor was "completely empty" after it was poured, and he was told by a park ranger that alcohol was prohibited at Sandy Hook, according to a "statement of probable cause."

Springsteen told the park ranger that he consumed two shots of tequila over the previous 20 minutes and that he was planning on driving out of the park, according to the statement of probable cause. "Springsteen smelt strongly of alcohol coming off his person and had glassy eyes," the statement said.

The ranger said Springsteen ran through field sobriety tests – although he refused a breath test – and he was "visibly swaying back and forth," the statement said. The rocker took a walk-and-turn test and took 45 steps when he was instructed to take 18, according to the statement.

Springsteen, 71, received three citations – DWI, reckless driving and consuming alcohol in a closed area – following a Nov. 14 arrest at Sandy Hook, according to a spokesperson from the National Park Service.

“Springsteen was cooperative throughout the process,” a spokesperson told Patch.

Sources told The New York Post that the incident happened when Springsteen made contact with fans. "Bruce stopped, took the pictures, then a fan offered him a shot of liquor, which he took while sitting on his bike, which was stationary .... park police saw what happened and they immediately pulled Springsteen over as he drove away.”

Since Gateway National Recreation Area sits on federal land, Springsteen will have his court appearance via federal court in Newark, the Asbury Park Press reported.

Alcohol has been banned entirely from Gateway National Recreation Area/Sandy Hook since 2019. Booze is banned from being brought onto beaches, parking lots, park grounds, picnic areas and boating docks, Patch previously reported.

And while a blood-alcohol content of .08 is the legal limit, you can still get busted for less in the state of New Jersey.

“Although the law refers to a 0.08 percent BAC, you can be convicted of driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor even when your BAC is below 0.08 percent,” according to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General website. “Consuming even small amounts of alcohol dulls the senses, decreases reaction time, and hampers judgement, vision and alertness. If you consume any amount of alcohol and your driving is negatively impacted, you can be convicted of drunk driving.”

In a statement forwarded to Patch, Chairman of the United States Park Police Fraternal Order of Police Kenneth Spencer clarified that the arrest was made by National Park Service park rangers. "The United States Park Police was not involved in any way," Spencer said.

The incident was first reported by the tabloid TMZ.

Springsteen, a Freehold native and current resident of Colts Neck, recently made headlines for a different reason last weekend when he was featured in a Super Bowl Sunday advertisement for Jeep. In the two-minute commercial, the New Jerseyan pleaded for political unity amid a deeply polarized nation.

Jeep has since pulled the ad from its YouTube channel.

"It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of a matter we have only read about and we cannot substantiate," a Jeep spokesperson told multiple publications. "But it's also right that we pause our Big Game commercial until the actual facts can be established. Its message of community and unity is as relevant as ever. As is the message that drinking and driving can never be condoned."