The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog
After a video of the arrest was recently released to the public, a New Jersey judge who was detained for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol in 2016 and found not guilty is now facing accusations that he used his position of power to try to prevent officers from detaining him.
Near 2:00 a.m. on November 12, 2016, police discovered a BMW pulled to the side of the interstate with its emergency lights turned on. When they reached the driver’s window they found a man reportedly sleeping inside of the car.
It was discovered that the man inside the car was Wilfredo Benitez, a part-time municipal judge in three local counties. When officers believed that he was intoxicated and attempted to take him into custody for the alleged offense Benitez was recorded on video using foul language and asserting that he is a judge. The video also depicts Benitez telling one of the officers that he was wasting his time, and threatened to fight him.