City of Cleveland Assistant Law Director Arrested for Public Intoxication and Disorderly Conduct

Update: Body cam video of the incident was released by Cleveland Heights and is included below. It paints a slightly different picture than the police report.

Original story: Channel 19 has the details on the arrest last night of Christopher Heltzel, the city of Cleveland's assistant law director.

According to the station, police in Cleveland Heights were called by a citizen for a man "acting in a bizarre manner." Cops arrived to find Heltzel in his car in a parking lot at Mayfield and Kenilworth. Music was playing loudly from the vehicle and Heltzel was "flailing his arms wildly," according to the police report. His eyes were bloodshot, his walk unsteady and breath bearing a strong odor of alcohol, an officer noted in the report. The city employee identified himself and stated he simply wanted to listen to The Police in his car.

Sadly, no mention is made of what specific Police album or song Heltzel was jamming to (our hope: Every Breath You Take). (Update: Turns out it was Syncronicity.)

The video below shows Heltzel cooperating with officers, stating that he lives in the apartment complex and simply wanted to listen to music in his car. When asked whether he had been drinking, Heltzel said it had been four hours or so since he had and that he had also eaten pizza. The initial report from the officer describes a scene very much unlike the one that played out in the video, which includes an officer laughing (at what, it's unclear) and Heltzel explaining he didn't think cops had any reasonable suspicion for the stop. They disagreed and placed him under arrest.

Heltzel has not yet been charged, according to Cleveland.com.