'Call your mayor,' Paulsboro mayor reportedly told officers in stop

After being pulled over for drunken driving in Woolwich Township last month, Paulsboro Mayor Jeffery Hamilton told officers, "Call your mayor," adding, "We're buddies together," according to police reports obtained through a public records request.

Hamilton's comments were "a presumed attempt to influence the decision to arrest him," an officer wrote in the report. Hamilton also immediately identified himself as "Mayor Hamilton" upon being stopped during the Dec. 20 incident, the report said.

Hamilton and his attorney, Charles Block, did not return requests for comment Monday. Woolwich Mayor Sam Maccarone declined to comment.

Hamilton was pulled over around 12:30 a.m. after another driver reported a car driving erratically along Kings Highway in Woolwich, about 10 miles south of Paulsboro.

Hamilton, driving a silver four-door 2006 Chrysler, was stopped about three-quarters of a mile away on Paulsboro Road, where an officer saw his car cross the center yellow line.

Several officers who responded wrote that they could smell alcohol on Hamilton's breath and that he had bloodshot eyes.

"While Hamilton was searching for his credentials," the report said, "he appeared to be sidetracked, going back and forth looking for his credentials in his wallet and glove compartment."

Hamilton then allegedly failed several tests, including following a pen with his eyes and walking in a straight line. Police said Hamilton stumbled several times.

In another test, he lifted one leg in the air before being told to do so, the report said.

When an officer tried to handcuff Hamilton, Hamilton pulled his arms away, creating "a short period of resistance" before he was arrested, the report said.

Hamilton, who had initially agreed to a breath test, was then given the test six times at the police station, but only gave "a quick, forceful breath," an officer wrote.

That prevented police from determining Hamilton's blood alcohol content. He was then charged with refusal to submit breath samples, in addition to charges of driving while intoxicated, failure to maintain a lane, and reckless driving.

Hamilton's brother, Tyron, picked him up from the station.

That Hamilton was arrested in Woolwich has created some conflicts.

Last week his case was moved to a different court because the judge in Woolwich, William Golden, also presides over Paulsboro Municipal Court. Hamilton voted to appoint Golden to the Paulsboro position in 2009.

Hamilton's court date is now scheduled in Carneys Point, Salem County, on Feb. 11.