Ohio Democratic congressional candidate Brian Poindexter was arrested for allegedly swallowing a rock of crack cocaine at a traffic stop after he was stopped by police and for slapping a man at a baseball game, according to police records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Poindexter, a city councilman and former union organizer running against the embattled Republican congressman Max Miller in Ohio’s Seventh Congressional District, has a criminal rap sheet dating back to the late 1990s, the records show.
The news could complicate the race, where Miller is facing his own legal issues and accusations of physically assaulting his ex-wife, including claims that he threw scalding water on her and threatened her at gunpoint.
On Jan. 23, 1998, Poindexter, then 18, was pulled over by police officers at a street corner known for heavy drug activity in Cleveland, according to the police report. Poindexter allegedly pulled out "some small objects from his coat pocket and put them into his mouth" and "began to swallow them." The officer tried to retrieve the objects from Poindexter’s mouth, and the two men fell to the ground in a scuffle. The officer eventually recovered a "rock of suspected crack cocaine," according to the records.
Poindexter was arrested for "drug abuse," according to the records. It’s unclear whether he was ultimately prosecuted for the offense. The police department did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the Poindexter campaign said that "any implication that Brian has used hard drugs is false. Any suggestion otherwise is bullshit."
The alleged cocaine use wasn't Poindexter’s last brush with the law. Fifteen years later, on Aug. 10, 2013, police arrested Poindexter, then 34 years old, for assault and removed him from a Cleveland Indians game after he allegedly slapped a stranger "for no known reason," according to the police report.
The victim, Bob Rzepka, 55, told the Washington Free Beacon that he was attending the game with his son on "Dollar Dog Day" when they witnessed Poindexter swallow a "whole freaking hot dog" in one bite.
"He opened up one of the dollar dogs, and he shoved that whole thing in his mouth in one fell swoop, and just swallowed it. Bread, hot dog, everything," Rzepka told the Free Beacon. "Me and my son both witnessed it. We looked at each other. I was like, ‘Holy shit! Did you see that?’"
Rzepka said he walked up to Poindexter to express his amazement and to offer to buy him another hot dog.
"I said, ‘Hey man, if I buy you a hot dog, will you shove that fucking thing down your throat like you did? And can I get a video of it? Because people will never believe me.’"
But Poindexter, who appeared to be heavily intoxicated, took offense at the praise.
"He's like, ‘Hey, were you trying to insinuate something?’ I go, ‘No, man. I just think it’s crazy that you just shoved that freaking hot dog down your throat without even taking a bite of it,’" said Rzepka.
"And then he just—wham—just smacked me right across the fucking face."
Rzepka said two police officers were watching nearby. They quickly grabbed Poindexter and tossed him out of the stadium. Poindexter then allegedly stood outside the fence and shouted insults at Rzepka, forcing him and his son to move seats.
Rzepka, who lives in the Seventh Congressional District, said Poindexter "definitely has some anger issues" to "have that reaction."
Rzepka said police asked if he wanted to press charges, but he declined. He said he was surprised to learn from the Free Beacon that Poindexter is now running for Congress.
"The guy who slapped me at a baseball game is running for Congress?" he said. "I wouldn’t want him representing me."
