After appearing in Middletown Superior Court on Wednesday, all charges were dropped against Middletown Mayor Domenique Thornton. Thornton was taken into police custody on Sept. 14 under the suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

Middletown Police Officer Glenn Morron claimed that the mayor was driving erratically, at one point driving in the oncoming traffic lane, and failed to stop at a stop sign. According to The Hartford Courant, Thornton failed a field sobriety test administered after being pulled over. She was later determined to have a blood-alcohol content of .018 percent based on the results of a breath test, which is well below the legal limit of .08 percent.

Thornton explained that she had a glass of red wine with dinner earlier that evening, contributing to her blood-alcohol content. Thornton also stated that she had recently undergone root canal surgery and had taken a pain reliever four days earlier. Due to this, she had to take a urine test to assess if the combination of prescription medication and alcohol could have impaired her driving. On Monday, toxicology tests on the urine sample showed that Thornton had no traces of medication in her body.

In court, the prosecution pointed to the low blood-alcohol level and toxicology test results, rejecting the case against the mayor. Superior Court Judge Patricia Harleston dismissed the two charges, DUI and a traffic violation.

According to the Hartford Courant, Thornton did not comment as to whether she would investigate the reasons behind the police action. The Courant reported that some members of the local Democratic Party feel that the mayor may have been unfairly targeted due to the upcoming Nov. 8 election in which she is running for reelection.