Matthew R. Reilly,41, a Cranston, Rhode Island City councilman, is facing calls to resign after police found him Monday passed out behind the wheel of his car, seemingly “choking” with a crack pipe in his hand, according to the arrest affidavit and Bodycam video.
The bodycam video shows Reilly passed out in the vehicle and shaken awake by an officer saying, “You were literally choking in your sleep. Someone was flagging me down about it.”
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“I have sleep apnea. I’m sorry,” Reilly says, to which the officer replies: “Well, you have a crack pipe in your hands.”
Reilly initially denied having drugs in his car, telling officers he smoked “earlier” and was heading to work at Family Court.
After police found crack cocaine in the vehicle’s center console, Reilly admitted to relapsing after 13 years of sobriety, partly because of a “really bad divorce.”
Reilly admitted he has a drug problem and was getting help.
“If you’re getting help, what happened?” one of the officers asked.
In the video, police can be seen testing the crack found in Reilly’s vehicle, which contained fentanyl.
Reilly told police he had relapsed after 13 years of sobriety due to a nasty divorce.
“This is a terrible situation, we’re all in a tough spot, but we gotta do what we gotta do by the numbers. It’ll help you in the end, … and you’ll say to us a month from now, ‘Best thing that ever happened to me,’” one of the officers said to Reilly, “I look at you; you’re not the Matt Reilly we know,” the officer added. “Your health and your well-being is worth more than your political career.”
#BREAKING: Cranston police have released the body camera video of the arrest of Cranston city councilman Matt Reilly.
In it, he tells police he recently purchased $100 worth of crack cocaine.
The council president has asked him to resign. @wpri12 https://t.co/zm5ES4cTya pic.twitter.com/A4thZuMHeZ
— Amanda Pitts (@AmandaPittsTV) May 17, 2023
Cranston Councilman Matthew Reilly facing calls to resign after arrest, drug charge.
“You can’t go down this road anymore,” @Cranstonpolice tell Matt Reilly. “Your health and your well-being is worth more than your political career
https://t.co/KEvCwdR91N via @BostonGlobe
— Amanda Milkovits (@AmandaMilkovits) May 17, 2023
Mayor Kenneth J. Hopkins said in a statement that he’d known Reilly and his family his entire life and urged the councilman to step down from his role.
“By relieving himself of his elective duties, Matt will have time to focus his attention on his personal well-being. It will allow him to focus on his family, away from the important responsibilities and spotlight of public office,” the mayor said.
City Council President Jessica Marino also wants Reilly to resign “for his sake, for that of his family, and for the city as a whole.”
“Anyone that is going through the situation, my thoughts of his overall well-being as a human is first and foremost, and that of his family,” she said. “Politics should not be a priority in the situation that he’s currently facing.”
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Reilly is charged with unlawful possession of crack cocaine/fentanyl, a misdemeanor. He was released ahead of his arraignment scheduled for June 15.
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