TULSA, OK – Camera footage from a traffic stop revealed a longtime Oklahoma state senator, who is Black, arguing with a white sheriff’s deputy after the stop devolved into a “very verbal ordeal,” according to an article published by the New York Post earlier this month.
The Post added body camera footage obtained by Fox News Digital clearly showed Democratic State Sen. Regina Goodwin in an argument with Tulsa County Sheriff’s Deputy Freddie Alaniz soon after 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan 11, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
As reported by the Post, the scene began with a tense exchange between the two individuals after Goodwin was pulled over by Alaniz for allegedly failing to stop at two stop signs.
The body camera footage (https://www.fox23.com/news/body-cam-video-shows-argument-between-ok-senator-and-tulsa-county-deputy-at-traffic-stop/article_611d7f34-d9cb-11ef-8969-ff7736fa87b5.html) referenced by the Post showed Alaniz asking Goodwin for her license multiple times, saying, “Ma’am, I’m not going to ask you again. Can I get your driver’s license, or can I take you to jail for running a stop sign?” and, “I’m not going to ask you again. It’s not for debate.”
According to the Post, the two went back and forth, and Goodwin claimed the officer was “escalating” the traffic stop.
Goodwin was further quoted by the Post as saying, “That is not true. That is not true at all. I was having a conversation, and you just all of a sudden said, ‘I’ll arrest you,’” to which Alaniz responded with “No, I said, ‘Or, I can arrest you if that’s what you want.’”
Continuing the exchange as reported in the Post, Goodwin said, “I think you really escalated something,” and asked, “why would that even be an option for you?”
The Post continues to follow this exchange as Alaniz responds, saying “because you’re refusing to give me your driver’s license,” to which Goodwin replies “there was no refusal of me to give you my driver’s license.”
The officer said he asked more than five times for Goodwin’s driver’s license, yet she “kept debating (her) driver’s license,” Alaniz told the Post.
The Post quotes Goodwin’s reply to this claim, “I was not at all debating my driver’s license, sir, that is not correct.”
Goodwin was detained in handcuffs following this exchange, and placed in the patrol vehicle, according to the Post.
Goodwin’s attorney, Mike Manning, witnessed the scene and spoke with the deputy as noted by the Post, which further followed this exchange between Manning and Alaniz.
Manning was quoted by the Post as saying, “I realize you have a job to do, officer,” continuing, “I realize Sen. Goodwin can be a little bit strong-headed at times, but don’t you think you can write her a citation or something? She’ll give you her driver’s license.”
Alaniz, responding to Manning’s request, said in the Post, “Yeah, yeah, I can absolutely do that,” and “I don’t need to ask her 10 times for her driver’s license.”
The Post reported the officer’s statement to Manning, saying “I don’t have an issue writing her a citation or letting her go, but I’m the one that’s in command of the traffic stop, not her.”
The officer further described the issue as reported by the Post, saying, “She blatantly ran two stop signs, and I was just going to give her a verbal warning and tell her not to do that, but her demeanor — the way that she was — I can’t have that.”
The officer reportedly called his supervisor to the scene, according to the Post, and explained how he pulled Goodwin over for rolling two stop signs and speeding down the street.
In Alaniz’s words, “She ran this stop sign back here and the other one that’s a little further down. Just came up, slowed down, and then (drove) right through them,” as quoted in the Post.
Further explaining his actions, Alaniz said in the Post, “She was driving so fast that, when she was hitting the puddles of water, it was just shooting them out. So that’s why I came up and pulled her over.
“And as I was getting out, she got out of her car, (asking) ‘Why are you stopping me?’ You know, just kind of got very verbal. I asked for her driver’s license numerous, numerous times, and she wouldn’t give it to me.”
Goodwin was released at the scene, but was given a citation for failure to stop at a stop sign. She later pleaded no contest at a court appearance and was found guilty.
Goodwin represents Oklahoma’s 11th District and was elected to the state Senate in 2024. She previously served in the state’s House of Representatives from 2014-2024.
