PHOENIX – Arizona Rep. Mariana Sandoval invoked her legislative title and said she would call the police chief during an October 2024 traffic stop, according to an officer’s statements in body-camera footage published by FOIAzona on October 30.
The Democrat was cited for wrong-way driving and failing to obey a traffic-control device near Lilac Street and Cotton Lane in Goodyear on October 30, 2024. A municipal judge subsequently found her responsible for the civil wrong-way-driving violation and imposed a $974.60 fine, while finding her not responsible for the traffic-control-device violation. A Maricopa County Superior Court judge affirmed the wrong-way-driving judgment on appeal, according to the court records.
The records describe a road closure following an earlier collision that damaged a traffic signal. Officers were directing traffic while a crane was used to remove the damaged signal. An officer testified that Sandoval drove around cones into a lane for opposing traffic before returning to the proper lane as she approached the intersection.
According to FOIAzona’s account of the footage, an officer directed Sandoval to reverse her vehicle before approaching her window. The opening portion of the recording has no audio.
“You went into oncoming traffic. You went on the wrong side of the road,” the officer said in the first recording, as transcribed by FOIAzona.
EXCLUSIVE 🚨
State Rep Mariana Sandoval (D) was caught wrong-way driving in late 2024. Bodycam footage shows her warning officers she's a lawmaker and threatening to call the police chief.
She hired @JulieGunnigle as her lawyer. They lost.
READ: https://t.co/aHmYsUXvU3 #AZLeg pic.twitter.com/xmJ0EMp4qO
— Brian Anderson (@AZBrianAnderson) October 30, 2026
“The fact that you’re a state representative does not mean that you get to do whatever you want. That is the very first thing you said to me. And you said you’re calling the chief.”
Sandoval disputed the officer’s approach, saying, “You came at me aggressively and rude,” and, “You didn’t ask me. You yelled at me,” according to the outlet’s account.
Later, the officer told colleagues that Sandoval had identified herself as a state representative and said she was calling the police chief. He characterized her conduct as “using her title to get out of a ticket,” FOIAzona reported. Those statements reflect the officer’s account of the initial exchange.
At the December 16, 2024, municipal court hearing, Sandoval testified that she was traveling to a ribbon-cutting event and was accustomed to encountering construction cones in the neighborhood. She maintained that she drove safely, saw no oncoming vehicles, and had no intention of breaking the law, according to the Superior Court’s summary of the testimony.
An officer also testified that he saw no vehicles in the opposing lane at that moment.
The municipal court found Sandoval not responsible for failing to obey a traffic-control device, explaining that the cones did not qualify as an official traffic-control device as contemplated by the statute. The court separately found her responsible for wrong-way driving.
Sandoval appealed through attorney Julie Gunnigle. She challenged the sufficiency of the evidence and argued that her driving fell within a statutory exception for crossing a median, according to the appellate ruling.
In an August 25, 2025, decision, Superior Court Judge Joseph P. Mikitish concluded that the officers’ testimony provided substantial evidence supporting the judgment. He wrote that the testimony described Sandoval driving in the direction of oncoming traffic, rather than simply crossing a median, and affirmed the judgment and fine.
The court records also document Sandoval’s requests for additional time to complete community service authorized in lieu of payment.
In a January 31, 2025, email, she requested an extension, writing that she was “nowhere close to completing the hours or traffic survival school course by February 14 as ordered by the court.”
Judge Carla Bastien initially denied the request on February 3 pending additional information, including proof of completed hours and an explanation for the extension.
A February 7 letter signed by Cesar Aguilar, community relations director for Aguila Youth Leadership Institute, reported that Sandoval had completed 20 hours of community service. In a subsequent request, Sandoval cited her legislative duties as affecting her ability to finish the remaining hours.
On February 14, Bastien granted an extension until April 14 to provide proof of 44 completed community restitution hours. A later letter from Aguilar, dated April 11 and filed with the court on April 14, reported that Sandoval had completed 50 hours of service with the organization.
In a follow-up post to X Brian Anderson of FOIAZona wrote, “Mariana Sandoval complained she didn’t have time for community service, so the judge demanded evidence Luckily a Democrat in the #AZLeg signed a letter saying Sandoval volunteered for his nonprofit. What great luck! Glad that really happened.”
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