Bodycam Footage Shows New Jersey Prosecutor’s DWI Arrest After 30th Birthday

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ- “Nobody is above the law,” an assistant prosecutor from Essex County learned that on March 8 when she was arrested for DWI after police found her passed out outside her car in a parking lot. The case drew renewed scrutiny after newly released bodycam footage became public, the Daily Voice reports. 

The footage, released by Transparency Bodycam, captures the arrest of Bryashia “Bry” Atchison-Henderson, who was out celebrating her 30th birthday when she apparently imbibed too much alcohol and passed out in her car.

Atchison-Henderson serves as an assistant prosecutor in the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, according to online records and sources whom the Daily Voice spoke with. Arrest documents also show her occupation as an assistant prosecutor. 

 The outlet said they reached out to the prosecutor’s office for comment, however, no reply was received. Officers are seen in the bodycam footage removing her badge from her personal belongings toward the end of the video. However, Atchison-Henderson is apparently still employed, with sources indicating she tried a case shortly after her arrest. 

That seems to comply with a continuing legal education handbook reviewed by the Daily Voice, which states that attorneys in New Jersey are “not subject to a formal, professional discipline following a conviction for drunk driving under [New Jersey] law.” 

Since DWI is classified as a traffic violation and not a criminal offense, it doesn’t trigger discipline for attorneys under Rule 8.4(b). That rule covers criminal acts, calling into question an attorney’s fitness to practice law. Nonetheless, discipline can still be imposed if the DWI leads to other criminal charges or unethical conduct, the handbook states. 

The incident took place when Edgewater police officer Evan Bringas was dispatched to a parking lot on River Road at around 8:16 p.m. on Saturday, March 8, after a 911 caller reported someone lying on the ground outside a vehicle. On arrival, Bringas saw a white 2020 Ford Explorer that had driven over the curb and onto the grass. He saw the woman, later identified as Atchison-Henderson, lying on the pavement outside the Explorer. 

Bringas was able to awaken Bringas and asked her if she knew where she was. She is witnessed on video speaking gibberish and said she didn’t know where she was. 

Shortly afterward, Bringas’s backup officer, Tyler Iafelice, arrived on the scene, and he asked Atchison-Henderson how she ended up on the ground outside her vehicle. She said, “My 30th birthday brought me here.” She admitted being at a bar in Edgewater earlier that night. 

Bringas wrote that he “detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from her [Atchison-Henderson’s] breath,” in his incident report. As Iafelice returned to his cruiser to run her license, Atchison-Henderson admitted to Bringas that “she was drunk,” and “just wanted to go home.” 

Unable to stand on her own, Iafelice helped her stand up as Bringas administered a Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test, while additional tests were not conducted “due to safety concerns,” police said. 

Atchison-Henderson was then placed under arrest for DWI, and her vehicle was towed and impounded. 

During the ride into headquarters, she vomited in the back of the patrol car. Officers had to physically assist her to the processing room. It was there that she produced a badge identifying her as an employee of the Essex County Prosecutor’s office. 

Officers read her a standard document, the Attorney General’s Standard Statement for Motor Vehicle Operators, which she was unable to understand. 

“At this time, Ms. Atchison-Henderson was considered a refusal due to her inability to answer any questions and stay awake,” Bringas wrote in his report. 

Atchison-Henderson was booked on charges of Operating Under the Influence and Refusal to Submit to a Breathalyzer/Chemical Test.

She was released on her own recognizance and was scheduled for an April 3 court appearance. No further information was available detailing what occurred during that arraignment.