A woman arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence told officers she should not be detained because she is a "very clean, thoroughbred, white girl", police said.

Lauren Cutshaw, 32, was pulled over in Bluffton, South Carolina, after going through a stop sign at 60mph, local media reported.

In a video of the arrest, an officer is heard telling her she could have "t-boned" another car and "killed somebody".

According to a police report, Ms Cutshaw was slurring her words and there was a smell of alcohol coming from the car.

She told officers she had drunk only two glasses of wine, but when they asked how full they were, she replied: "I mean, I was celebrating my birthday."


"I'm a white, clean girl," she also told officers. When they asked why that was relevant, she is said to have replied: "You're a cop, you should know what that means."

Image: Lauren Cutshaw was arrested for driving under the influence. Pic: Beaufort County Detention Centre

Ms Cutshaw also tried to resist arrest by saying she had good grades, was a cheerleader, a sorority girl and "pretty", and her partner was a police officer.

During a 20-minute ride to a police station, Ms Cutshaw told officer Baker Odom she was "almost valedictorian" in high school, went to a "high accredited university" with a scholarship, and asked him to "check her record".

She was arrested after failing sobriety tests.

A breath test showed her blood-alcohol level to be .18%, the police report said. The legal limit in South Carolina is .08%.

Marijuana and drug paraphernalia were found in the car.

Officer Odom wrote: "Making statements such as these as a means to justify not being arrested are unusual in my experience as a law enforcement officer and I believe further demonstrate the suspect's level of intoxication."