PITTSBURGH — Criminal charges have just been filed against a man accused of driving under the influence with a district judge in his car.
Police filed DUI charges against Samuel Smeal for that incident on Tuesday.
11 Investigates sources say District Justice Nina Ricciardi was a passenger in Smeal’s car on Feb. 10.
She was being dropped off by a friend to take the bench to begin hearing cases.
The incident happened in front of the municipal court building in downtown Pittsburgh last week.
According to the criminal complaint, the driver and Ricciardi, identified only as Passenger #1 in court paperwork, are seen on the building’s surveillance video.
The complaint says that the driver “helped Passenger #1 get out of the vehicle, holding them up as they stumbled out of the doorway.”
It continues, saying, “Passenger #1 falls backwards onto the ground.”
Judge Ricciardi was rushed to Mercy Hospital with a gash on her head.
She does not face any criminal charges. She did take a voluntary temporary leave from her job as a district justice on the South Side.
Police said the driver, identified as Smeal, failed a field sobriety test.
An officer writing in the criminal complaint...“it is my opinion...that Samuel Smeal is under the combined influence of CNS stimulants and CNS depressants...to a degree that has impaired his ability to operate a motor vehicle safely.”
Smeal, who in the complaint told police he was taking Adderall and Xanax, has now been charged with driving under the influence, driving with a suspended registration out of California and failing to register his vehicle in Pennsylvania.
The complaint says Smeal was charged with DUI back in 2017 and entered a program for first-time offenders.
Ricciaridi has not been accused of any wrongdoing and is not facing any charges.
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