Police body camera footage from the night Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzalez’ (D8) was arrested shows her drifting between lanes, denying having consumed any alcohol and questioning the need for a sobriety test.

Meza Gonzalez was pulled over near I-10 and Fresno Street on July 24.

She said she was headed home from the Centre Club, a members only bar and restaurant at the top of Weston Centre’s office building downtown.

In a video released to the public Friday afternoon, the arresting officer can be heard explaining that he was concerned about Meza Gonzalez getting too close to other cars, and asked her whether she’d been drinking or possibly had a medical condition.

“Why are we doing this?” Meza Gonzalez asked several minutes later while being asked to walk in a straight line.

The officer reiterated that he needed to make sure that she could safely operate a motor vehicle, to which Meza Gonzalez replied: “Even though I’ve already articulated that I am?”

An arrest report said Meza Gonzalez smelled of alcohol, swayed on her feet and misunderstood directions several times throughout the sobriety test.

When asked by the officer how many steps she’d taken, Meza Gonzalez told the officer: “I didn’t count. I’m not gonna lie.’

Meza Gonzalez said Friday that the video was not her finest moment, and that she regretted “not being more forthcoming with the officer.”

“I was overwhelmed — nervous, embarrassed, and, to be frank, afraid,” Meza Gonzalez said in a statement.

Earlier this week Meza Gonzalez acknowledged that it was her second DWI arrest. She was also charged in 2010, but was acquitted by a jury and had it expunged from her record.

“I will take full accountability for my actions on July 24, 2025, as this process moves forward,” she said at the time. “I won’t waver in my dedication to the important work of city government.”

It’s unclear whether the council will take action to punish Meza Gonzalez, as it did with Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) and then Councilman Clayton Perry (D10). Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said earlier this week that she hasn’t ruled it out.