TRENTON -- A statewide crackdown on distracted driving ordered by Gov. Chris Christie's attorney general earlier this year led to a surprising catch in New Jersey's first lady, Mary Pat Christie, NJ Advance Media has learned.

To her credit, unlike others with influence in Trenton, the first lady did not play the "Do you know who I am?" card after being pulled over, dash cam video of the traffic stop shows.

As it turns out, how the first lady wound up getting that ticket is perhaps more interesting than why.

After New Jersey traffic fatalities jumped 8 percent in 2016, state Attorney General Christopher Porrino requested and received $1.2 million in federal grant money to launch a campaign against texting and other distracted driving that was behind the rise.

More than 190 police agencies throughout New Jersey mobilized using National Highway Traffic Safety Administration grants disbursed to help pay for increased enforcement from April 1 through April 21.

On April 10, Officer Timothy Richard of the Bernardsville Police Department was assigned to a grant-funded detail enforcing the hands-free cell phone law.

Shortly before 11 a.m., records show, Richard pulled over a white 2016 Chevy Suburban whose driver was clutching her phone in her hand while driving.

Sworn in as an officer just three months earlier, Richard, 27, of Dunellen, had no idea he'd just pulled over the first lady of New Jersey, according to a source at the Bernardsville Police Department who was not authorized to speak publicly about the department's internal affairs and requested anonymity. Richard was informed some time later by his colleagues.

Mary Pat Christie did not tell him she was the first lady, the dash cam shows.

Officer Timothy Richard. (Credit: Bernardsvile Police Dept.)

Richard did not return phone calls and Bernardsville Police Chief Kevin Valentine declined to comment on the traffic stop. Brian Murray, a spokesman for Gov. Christie, dismissed the ticketing of the first lady as "a non-story, and we're not offering anything more on it."

However, the attorney general's crackdown on distracted driving did have a measurable effect on traffic fatalities.

During April's distracted driving dragnet, police officers across New Jersey handed out 15,292 tickets for cell phone use, including Mary Pat Christie's, as well as 7,003 careless driving summonses.

As a result, Porrino's office said traffic fatalities have fallen more than 7 percent compared to the same time period last year.

In the end, the first lady did not contest the ticket, and appeared in Warren Township municipal court in May to answer the charge of operating a motor vehicle while using a cell phone. She pleaded guilty and paid a $250 fine.

NJ Advance Media learned of the incident by obtaining the MVC's driver histories of the governor, the candidates hoping to replace him, and their spouses under the Open Public Records Act. No one else in the current field had any recent run-ins with police while driving.

A check of the first lady's driver history obtained from the Motor Vehicle Commission under the Open Public Records Act shows only one other recent incident: Mary Pat Christie was involved in a traffic accident on February 26, 2016 -- the same day Gov. Christie endorsed Donald Trump for president.

Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.