Oklahoma State Senator Regina Goodwin has been issued a citation and was briefly detained for failing to stop at two stop signs in downtown Tulsa. The 62-year-old was captured by body cam footage arguing with deputy sheriff Freddie Alaniz and refusing to show her driver’s licence ID. The incident occurred on Jan. 11, 2025. nearby the 200 block of E. Archer Street. While the democratic politician was not arrested, her overall demeanor and how she conducted herself has sparked discussions online.
The 11-minute clip opens from the perspective of the deputy sheriff, who has just pulled over Goodwin’s silver Lexus vehicle. It’s clear that the Senator is not very pleased by the inconvenience, and asks why she’s being stopped. In response, the police officer states: “‘Cause you ran two stop signs and you’re gonna get a citation today. I was behind you, ma’am. You didn’t even come to a complete stop. I need your driver’s licence.”
Goodwin fires back: “I did not run two stop signs. Why are you doing all this? [The Senator shakes her body angrily]” To this, officer Alaniz responds, “I need your driver’s licence. I’m fixing my vest.” The back and forth continues to escalate, with the Senator maintaining that she did not run two stop signs. “I didn’t run two stop signs. Why don’t we solve this if I know I didn’t run two stop signs.” The officer cracks his knuckles, and responds, “Well, we can solve it in court. I need your driver’s licence.”
The incident continues to intensify, culminating in Goodwin being placed in handcuffs before being briefly detained in the back of a police vehicle because she didn’t come to a complete stop at a stop sign, and also refused to show her driver’s licence ID to the officer. Overall, officer Alaniz asks for Goodwin’s driver’s licence ID 15 times. While she is not arrested, she is cited for failure to come to a complete stop at a stop sign.
In an interesting turn of events, Goodwin’s passenger is an attorney, who speaks to officer Alaniz one-on-one on Goodwin’s behalf, explaining who she is. “I realise Senator Goodwin can be a little strong-headed sometimes.” the attorney says showing his ID. The deputy Sheriff clarifies what he saw, saying: “I don’t need to ask her 10 times for her driver’s licence. I’m the one in command of the traffic stop, not her. She blatantly ran two stop signs. And I was just gonna give her a verbal warning and tell her not to do that but her demeanor and the way that she was, I can’t have that.”
Of course, with the clip making the rounds across social media platforms, the internet chimed in with their thoughts and reactions to the footage. One Redditor pointed out:
Refusing to be held accountable for their actions, arguing with police and refusing to give ID. These people are elected to uphold our laws but don’t seem to understand them. I wonder if we should all act like our elected officials more, just so we can see how ridiculous it is.
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A second netizen weighed in, penning: “If I got out of my car, I’d be in cuffs“
While Goodwin was released from her handcuffs and only given a citation, it’s fair to say that these sorts of incidents do speak to the hypocrisy of lawmakers who fail to comply with the rules. With hope, Senator Goodwin will learn her lesson and, in future, always stop at stop signs as she really should follow the rules, just like everybody else.
