‘Drunk’ former Ohio mayor Cathy Luks leads cops on dramatic chase before being arrested and telling officers ‘what you are doing is wrong’

The former mayor of a small Ohio town led police on a dramatic, high-speed chase — before telling officers “what you’re doing is wrong” as she was arrested for drunken driving.

Cathy Luks, 66, who served as mayor of North Royalton from 1999 to 2007, was stopped by police Wednesday afternoon after they spotted an expired license plate on her car, but she appeared confused and uncooperative when a police officer tried to explain why he stopped her.

As officers spoke to her as she sat handcuffed in a police car, she was heard saying, “You know what? I was the mayor of the city of North Royalton.”

Newly released bodycam video shows Luks ignored the officer’s commands and became disoriented during the traffic stop.

The officer can be heard saying, “Because you’re going 43 (mph) in a 25 (mph) zone, and your license plate is expired.”

‘Do you have a driver’s license with you?’ you hear the officer ask.

“No,” said Luks.

“Where’s your driver’s license?”

‘No.’

“Can you drive into a park?”

“No,” the former mayor answered every question with a steady “no” as she rolled up her window and drove away.

The officer rushed to his patrol car, turned on the bright lights and blaring siren and chased Luks at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.

About 30 seconds later, the officer caught up with Lux when she lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tow truck in a parking lot.

She was pulled out of her car and handcuffed, but refused to enter the police unit and asked for her ‘stuff’ and a ‘chair’.

“I want my stuff back,” you hear Luks say repeatedly. ‘What you are doing is wrong. I’ll tell you how it works.’

‘You know what? I was mayor of the city of North Royalton,” she eventually took the opportunity to tell officers about her former title.

She was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, speeding, opening a container of alcohol in a motor vehicle and driving with expired license plates.

Luks appeared at the Parma Municipal Court the day after she was arrested. No plea has been entered.

Her non-compliance case – a third-degree felony – is expected to go before a Cuyahoga County grand jury in the near future.

Luks was mayor from 1999 to 2007. Her term was tainted with some controversy.

She used the word “petty” to describe complaints from neighbors who were harassed by a local judge in 2003.

In a 2004 incident, she survived a recall by residents angry about the city’s alleged lack of sewer maintenance, which led to widespread flooding in the area.

She used the word “petty again” and said there were “petty politics” behind the efforts to oust her.