When the cops show up to investigate a crash that may have been caused by a drunk driver, you’d like to think that the people involved in the crash would be the only intoxicated people on the scene. Surely, cops can be trusted to remain sober, right? As it turns out, if one of those cops is Bradley Beach Police Chief Leonard Guida, that’s not exactly a guarantee, TAPinto Asbury Park reports. And back in November, that led to a physical altercation between Guida and one of his officers.
After filing a public records request, TAPinto was able to obtain the body camera footage from the night of the incident. In the video embedded below, we see Chief Leonard Guida arrived at about 10:30 p.m. to the scene of a crash that the responding officer believed was caused by the driver being intoxicated. It isn’t clear from the footage whether he arrived in a car or simply walked over, but based on how he was walking, it doesn’t appear that he was entirely sober. He was also not in uniform.
Guida then approached Sergeant William Major to lecture him about the condition of the jacket that Major is wearing. Major took off the jacket, but Guida continued pestering him. “I am working. I don’t have time to argue about a jacket,” Major can be heard telling the chief.
At that point, Guida grabbed Major’s arm, and Major responded by slamming him onto the hood of a police cruiser and throwing him to another officer to deal with. “Drunk again,” Major can be heard yelling, “Chief, get out of here, or you are going to get locked up! You were grabbing me, I asked you three times to leave me alone. You’re obstructing my DWI.” Instead of leaving, Guida relieved Major of his duties and suspended him on the spot before ordering him to return to the police station.
Following the incident, Chief Guida was placed on paid administrative leave and Sergeant Major has returned to full-time duty. It’s not entirely clear what will happen to Guida, but we’re sure the police union will find a way to smooth everything over for him.
