Mary Lou Retton. Credit :
David Livingston/Getty Images
- Mary Lou Retton was arrested in May on a DUI charge
- Bodycam footage appears to show the five-time Olympic medalist telling police officers she was “West Virginia’s first daughter”
- The footage was released on Tuesday, July 8
Bodycam footage of Mary Lou Retton’s arrest appears to show the five-time Olympic medalist telling police officers she was “West Virginia’s First Daughter” as she entered a police station in Fairmont, W.V.
The footage, which was released Tuesday, July 8, shows Retton’s May 17 encounter with police.
This comes after officers responded to reports of a Porsche with a Texas license plate driving “all over the roadway” near downtown Fairmont, according to court documents obtained and reviewed by WDTV.
Retton, 57, was allegedly spotted in her car in a parking lot with a screw-top bottle of wine in her passenger seat, the Associated Press reported, citing a criminal complaint.
Police claimed Retton was slurring her words while speaking with them at the scene and refused to have her blood tested for alcohol.
In the footage obtained by Entertainment Tonight, the Dancing with the Stars alum appeared to struggle to complete a sobriety test, which required her to put her foot up six inches off the ground, and count until instructed by the officer to stop.
Mary Lou Retton. Cal Sport Media via AP Images
At one point, she seemed to have trouble breathing and had to use an oxygen apparatus. Retton suffered a serious bout of pneumonia in 2023 and told PEOPLE in 2024 that doctors had told her four daughters she might not make it.
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She was then transported to the police station where she could be heard stating to one of the officers: “He’s too young to know who I am.”
“I know who you are,” the officer responded.
“I know you know who I am,” Retton responded. “Come on.”
“I got to do my job no matter who you are,” the officer said.
“I’m West Virginia’s First Daughter,” she said.
Retton entered a no contest plea to a non-aggravated DUI charge and was given a $100 fine — standard for first-time, non-aggravated offenses in the area.
In a statement after the arrest, Retton said, “What happened was completely unacceptable. I make no excuses. To my family, friends and my fans: I have let you down, and for that I am deeply sorry,” she said through her attorney Edmund J. Rollo.
The Fairmont City Police Department was not available for comment.
