Watch Nick Ayers, Tim Pawlenty's presidential campaign manager, get arrested for DWI [VIDEO]
It was well known, even before Tim Pawlenty hired him to manage his presidential campaign, that Nick Ayers was pulled over and arrested for DWI in 2006.
Nick Ayers as he would like you to see him.
What hasn't been available for the public to view, until now, is the dash cam video of that arrest. In light of Ayers' position as the head of Pawlenty's presidential campaign, City Pages made a public information request to obtain the footage from Georgia authorities. It arrived on VHS tape Monday. We then paid a local company to convert it into a file that could be uploaded to the Internet.
What follows is the video of Ayers failing the DWI test, as well as his classless ride to the station during which he talks up his political connections and his abiding respect for law-enforcement.
Back in the fall of 2006, Ayers, then only 24, was running the reelection campaign of Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue.
On October 25, just days before the election, Trooper First Class J.W. Rickett of the Georgia State Patrol saw Ayers' Chevy Tahoe weaving and doing 50 in a 35-mph zone. Rickett followed the truck, which turned into a parking lot, sped up, and nearly hit another vehicle in an apparent effort to hide.
City Pages Nick Ayers gets handcuffed.
As the dash-cam video of the incident shows, Ayers' first words to Rickett are: "We're with Governor Perdue's campaign headquarters."
Ayers claims he's only had one Jack Daniels and Diet Coke, but Rickett's report states he smelled strongly of alcohol.
Ayers' association with the governor apparently doesn't impress the trooper, who puts him through a field sobriety test, which he fails.
Ayers then refuses to take a breath test, so he's arrested and put in handcuffs.
Here's video of Ayers failing the test and getting cuffed. It's hard to tell on the tape, but the police report states Ayers was weeping.
Next: Nick Ayers tries to sweet talk the officer
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