Rachael Tansey, ex-Hooters boss, convicted of drunk driving after refusing breath test due to cosmetic lip surgery.
Police asked Tansey to take a breath test. She barely put her lips on the tube. Tansey mentioned recent cosmetic work. She said it was hard for her to blow, comparing it to activity after surgery.
Police wanted a blood sample next. Tansey refused, saying “Good luck.” She stated, “I will not consent to blood.” Police charged her because she did not provide breath or blood. In court, Tansey pleaded she had not been drinking.
Tansey claimed she drove slowly because of food. She dropped her chicken wrap while driving and used mouthwash. The judge did not believe her and convicted her on both charges.
The judge said Tansey tried to manipulate events. She argued with the police at the station and with the prosecutor in court. He noted Tansey never mentioned a phobia of needles earlier.
The judge found her story unbelievable. He thought driving while eating food and using mouthwash was too strange. He called her testimony not credible at all, and Tansey was bailed for sentencing later.
Tansey was getting divorced when this happened. She was taking a break from law, running restaurants and bars instead. She used to run the Liverpool Hooters restaurant, which went into liquidation recently.
A police officer saw Tansey weaving in her car after a colleague reported the erratic driving. Police found her at the car’s registered address and asked her to do a breath test there.
Tansey couldn’t give a breath sample at the scene, claiming lip surgery was the issue. She would also refuse a blood sample later. In court, she said phobia was why.
A police officer noticed alcohol on her breath. She seemed erratic after he opened the car door. Tansey mentioned mouthwash and chewing gum, and could not complete the breath test.
She put the mouthpiece in her mouth sometimes. But, she never gave a full breath sample. She tried forming a seal multiple times and then refused to give a blood sample. The officer called her “very arrogant.”
Tansey was asked about slowing down on camera. She said she was eating after working an 18-hour shift earlier. She grabbed a chicken wrap and drove around 2:30 AM.
She said police pounded on her window. A big officer was standing there, and she was terrified, thinking something happened to her kids. Many officers and cars surrounded her.
Tansey took sertraline for her broken marriage. She had IPL treatments, which aren’t invasive and remove hair around the face. All treatments take place when people grow older, and she didn’t say all details to officers.
She had a needle phobia for years. A nurse asked for her arm, but she went into fight-or-flight mode. She said, “Absolutely not,” and pulled back, with her friends comparing her to a dinosaur.
Tansey wanted to give a urine sample. But the officer wanted blood right away, and it gave her instant anxiety. She said no way to blood because her mind just went into another place at this time.
She worked for a long 18-hour shift already. She might not was the nicest at that time, which would only explain why in that circumstance after long day. Tansey has a sentencing date now.