Bruce Springsteen admitted to drinking two shots before DWI arrest, court document says

When Bruce Springsteen was arrested in November on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol at a national park in New Jersey, an officer said the rock icon failed two sobriety tests and admitted to drinking two shots of tequila.

Those details are outlined in a probable cause statement filed in federal court that sheds new light on Springsteen’s Nov. 14 arrest at Gateway National Recreation Area, also known as Sandy Hook.

Springsteen and his attorneys have not commented on the incident.

According to the statement, the officer saw Springsteen take one shot of tequila before getting on his motorcycle and starting the engine. The officer told Springsteen alcohol was prohibited at Sandy Hook, and then noticed a 750-milliliter Patron bottle was empty, the statement said. It’s unclear how full the bottle was when he began drinking from it.

Springsteen said he had taken two shots of tequila in the last 20 minutes and was planning to drive out of the park, the officer reported.

“Springsteen smelled strongly of alcohol coming off of his person and had glassy eyes,” the officer said.

He indicated four out of six clues for intoxication in an initial test and five out of eight in the walk-and-turn test, according to the statement.

The officer said Springsteen swayed back and forth as the officer checked his eyes and took 45 steps during the walking test instead of the 18 he was told to take.

Springsteen refused to provide a sample in the preliminary breath test, the statement said. By the time he took one, Springsteen blew a .02, a quarter of the legal limit in New Jersey, according to The New York Times, citing two people close to Springsteen. It’s not clear when he took the test.

The Asbury Park Press first reported Springsteen’s blood alcohol level. The newspaper also said fans offered him the tequila after he took pictures with them.

Springsteen faces charges of driving while intoxicated, reckless driving and consuming alcohol in a closed area in connection with the incident, according to National Park Service spokeswoman Brenda Ling.

Ling said Springsteen, famously a New Jersey native, was cooperative throughout the process.

News of the arrest came days after the debut of Springsteen’s first Super Bowl commercial. In the two-minute spot for Jeep, Springsteen says the country will again see unity and says “there’s hope on the road up ahead.”

A spokesperson for the Jeep brand said the Super Bowl commercial has been put on pause.

Fans have long praised Springsteen, 71, for his healthy lifestyle.

In his 2016 autobiography “Born to Run,” Springsteen said he avoided drugs and didn’t try alcohol until he was 22, partially because how he saw how drinking affected his father.