Bruce Springsteen outside the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank in 2014. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Could Bruce Springsteen be in need of a presidential pardon soon?

The rock star was arrested for DWI and other charges at Sandy Hook in November, federal officials confirmed Wednesday.

The Saturday, November 14 arrest was first reported by TMZ.com.

In response to a request for information about the arrest, National Parks Service spokeswoman Daphne Yun emailed this statement to redbankgreen:

On November 14, 2020, Bruce Springsteen was arrested in Gateway National Recreation Area and received three citations; DWI [36 CFR 4.23 (a) (1)], reckless driving [36 CFR 4.2 (b)], and consuming alcohol in a closed area [36 CFR 2.35 (a) (3) (iii)]. Springsteen was cooperative throughout the process.

Springsteen’s case will be heard in federal District Court in Newark because Gateway is part of the National Parks Service, according to the Asbury Park Press.

As of Wednesday afternoon, however, PACER, the federal court’s case docketing system, did not list the matter.

According to the website of the law firm of Villani &  DeLuca, which has an office in Red Bank, “DWI in a national park is a Class B misdemeanor and leaves the driver vulnerable to six months in federal jail plus fines that could reach a high as $5,000.”

If convicted, “the only chance to have the conviction expunged is if there is a pardon provided by the President of the United States,” the website says.

Firm co-founder Carmine Villani, however, clarified that the expungements are typically sought in criminal cases, not motor vehicle cases.

Still, the matters are handled somewhat “more formally” in federal court, he told redbankgreen, with an assistant U.S. Attorney assigned to prosecute before a federal magistrate.

Springsteen sang his “Land of Hope and Dreams” at the Lincoln Memorial during an inauguration event for President Joe Biden last month.

The arrest came to light just three days after Springsteen touted a message of Americans meeting “in the middle” to overcome political differences in a commercial for Jeep that ran during the Super Bowl.

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