Rancho Cucamonga woman allegedly bribes deputy after drunken-driving arrest

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A 28-year-old woman faces felony charges for allegedly offering a $1,000 bribe to a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy who arrested her for drunken driving.

Marizella Perez, of Rancho Cucamonga, pleaded with deputies to not arrest her after she was pulled over Sept. 27, and when her pleadings failed she allegedly offered the bribe, according to an arrest report attached to her court file.

A deputy pulled Perez over at about 11 p.m. after he saw her driving a gray BMW without license plates at Foothill and Day Creek boulevards, the report said.

Perez appeared drunk and failed field sobriety tests. She reportedly told a sheriff's deputy she'd had only two glasses of wine, but a breath test yielded a blood-alcohol measurement of 0.287, more than three and a half times the legal limit, the report said.

After Perez was handcuffed and sitting in the back of a police car, she allegedly offered the bribe to a deputy who was in the front seat filling in paperwork, the report said.

"I'll pay you $1,000 if you let me go," Perez reportedly said.

Perez reportedly said she'd give Deputy Steven Cline $300 that night if he drove her to an ATM, and she promised to give him $700 the next morning, the report said.

Cline drove to a Bank of America, and removed Perez's handcuffs. Perez walked to an automatic teller machine at the bank and returned with $200 in $20 bills, the report said.

As the deputy put the money in his front shirt pocket, Perez promised to give him the rest of the money the next day, the report said.

Cline drove Perez to West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, where she was booked for bribery and drunken driving. The deputy logged the money and Perez's bank card into evidence, the report said.

Prosecutors charged Perez last week with felony bribery and two misdemeanors related to drunken driving.

It's when she's scheduled to appear for arraignment in West Valley Superior Court.

Perez was released from custody the morning after her arrest after posting $100,000 bail, said sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers.

Perez was convicted of drunken driving in Riverside County in April 2008, and she was on probation for the offense at the time of her arrest in September, the report said.