Upstate NY pols want hostile DA who refused to stop for speeding, called cop ‘a–hole’ to be investigated by AG James: ‘Erodes public trust’
A hostile upstate New York district attorney who was caught on bodycam footage calling a police officer “an a–hole” after he tried to pull her over for speeding may soon have more to worry about than local authorities.
The Rochester City Council wants a state inquiry into Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley’s belligerent conduct — and sent a letter to Attorney General Letitia James Saturday asking her to investigate the situation.
“Recent body camera footage, shared by the Webster Police Department, has raised significant concerns regarding Ms. Doorley’s behavior during a traffic stop in Webster, New York,” reads the letter, which was signed by all nine city council members.
“This incident has led us to question her fitness to serve as District Attorney, and we believe an investigation by your office is warranted.”
The lawmakers said that public officials are “held to the highest standards of ethics, accountability and respect for the law,” and that Doorley’s behavior “appears to violate these standards.”
“Such behavior undermines the credibility and integrity of our justice system and erodes public trust,” they wrote.
Doorley admitted that she was driving 55 mph in a 35 mph zone on Phillips Road in Webster — less than half a mile from her neighborhood — on Monday after footage of the embarrassing exchange showed her defiantly telling cops “I don’t care” when they followed her home.
They \told her she should have stopped when they flagged her from behind with flashing lights.
“Once I realized that the intention of the [police car] was to pull me over, I called the Webster Police Chief to inform him that I was not a threat and that I would speak to the Officer at my house down the street,” she said in a statement on Thursday.
The officer followed her to her home and issued Doorley a ticket, which she accepted. The DA pleaded guilty in municipal court on Tuesday “because I believe in accepting responsibility for my actions and had no intention of using my position to receive a benefit,” she said.
But bodycam footage released by the Webster cops Friday shows the tense exchange between Doorley and the officer in her driveway, in which the district attorney appears to have been doing just that.
When the cop tells her she was doing 55 in a 35, she tells him, “I don’t really care.”
She gets on the phone and calls Webster Chief of Police Dennis Kohlmeier to ask, “Can you please tell them to leave me alone?”
Doorley refuses to step outside her garage to speak with officers. She dismissively hands the cop the phone to speak with the chief and tells him to “just go away.”
The officer can be heard explaining what happened on the phone.
She then storms inside the house against the officer’s orders.
He explains that he’s trying to conduct a traffic stop, and she shoots back, “I know the law better than you,” the footage shows.
“What is it you’re so against me? I’m doing my job. You say you’re a DA?” the cop asks at one point.
“I am THE DA,” she emphatically snaps back, and fetches her badge out of her car as she calls him an “a–hole.”
Richard C. Lewis, the president of the New York State Bar Association, said that James would be the appropriate person to look into the Doorley case.
“It’s improper for any public official in any way to assume any entitlement and to use their position to get some favorable treatment,” Lewis told The Post.
Doorley did not respond to a request for comment Saturday.
