Police bodycam footage shows a federal narcotics prosecutor attempting to give his business card to officers who came to his home in Florida to investigate a hit-and-run. Joseph Ruddy, 59, appears so drunk in the July footage that he struggles to stand and leans on the tailgate of his pickup for support outside his home in Temple Terrace. “What are you trying to hand me?” an officer asks in the footage, as Ruddy hands him his U.S. Justice Department business card in an apparent effort to leverage his role to limit the consequences of allegedly hitting another vehicle and driving off. “You realize when they pull my body-worn camera footage and they see this, this is going to go really bad?” the officer adds. Ruddy, who officers say had urinated on himself and failed a field sobriety test, was charged with driving under the influence and property damage. Despite the charges, he remained in his job for another two months, only being removed from three pending criminal cases on Wednesday after the Associated Press contacted the DOJ about his status.
