A combative and drunken fashionista who once worked for Victoria’s Secret was busted for coke possession while driving the wrong way near the Holland Tunnel and screaming, “I don’t want to go to New Jersey,” Port Authority sources say.
Tonnie Schaus, 34, of White Plains, was caught at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday in her 2007 BMW heading the wrong way, eastbound on Varick Street approaching the tunnel, said PAPD spokesman Joe Pentangelo.
Schaus, whose LinkedIn page lists her as a freelance designer with a past job as “a product development coordinator for Swim and Accessories” at Victoria’s Secret, had breath that smelled of alcohol and watery, bloodshot eyes, and failed three field sobriety tests, police say. Schaus’ LinkedIn page states that she worked for Victoria’s Secret for two years, ending in June 2013.
“Her face was flushed and her speech slurred as she stated ‘she didn’t want to go to New Jersey,'” Pentangelo said of the attempt to stop her from heading the wrong way into the tunnel.
When confronted with three clear vials with red caps containing suspected cocaine, Schaus allegedly claimed, “I didn’t do that yet.”
PAPD Lt. Joseph Macaluso was in his police car on Watts Street and spotted PAPD Officer Eva Mageros shouting at Schaus that she was heading the wrong way, police say.
Schaus then made a left onto Varick, heading north against oncoming southbound traffic, and the lieutenant interceded, positioning his police car to block her, Pentangelo said.
At that point, Schaus made a left onto Dominick Street and Macaluso was able to cut her off and force her to stop.
She was charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, operating a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol, resisting arrest, reckless driving and refusal to take a Breathalyzer.
Schaus “struggled while being arrested and resisted getting in the rear seat of the police car and was cursing and screaming,” Pentangelo noted.
A passenger, David Perlow, 58, who lives at the same address as Schaus in White Plains, was found with two vials of suspected cocaine and also arrested, police said.
Perlow was charged with possession of a controlled substance. He is due back in court Oct. 20.
A spokeswoman for Victoria’s Secret said the company could not immediately confirm that Schaus had ever been employed there.