Officers were flagged down after Rhode Island Councilman Matthew R. Reilly was spotted in a car choking in his sleep.
Body cam footage showed the details of the Republican council member’s arrest as Cranston police uncovered some shocking items in his possession. Observing Reilly’s hand, which was holding a crack pipe, and white residue on his driver’s seat, officers discovered Reilly was storing crack cocaine in the center console of his car, which according to the New York Post, a drug test revealed contained fentanyl.
The Boston Globe reported that officers shook Reilly to awaken him before he claimed he had sleep apnea and revealed his position as a city councilman. After Reilly admitted to smoking the crack, he blamed his relapse after 13 years of sobriety on a bad divorce.
“This is a terrible situation, we’re all in a tough spot, but we gotta do what we gotta do by the numbers. It’ll help you in the end, … and you’ll say to us a month from now, ‘Best thing that ever happened to me,’” Cranston Police Major Todd Patalano said to Reilly, adding, “You’re not the Matt Reilly we know” and “Your health and your well-being is worth more than your political career.”
Reilly is serving his second term as a city councilman, representing Ward 6. However, according to City Council President Jessica Marino, a Democrat, resigning is in his best interest for the sake of himself, his family, and the city.
Per the demands of Mayor Kenneth J. Hopkins, Reilly resigned as the Cranston Republican Party’s chairman.
“Anyone that is going through the situation, my thoughts of his overall well-being as a human is first and foremost, and that of his family,” she said. “Politics should not be a priority in the situation that he’s currently facing.”
Reilly was charged with a misdemeanor count of unlawful possession of crack cocaine/fentanyl before his release ahead of his arraignment on June 15.