The 911 caller who reported a Cape Coral councilwoman accusing her of drunken driving may have given authorities contradicting information.
Rachel Kaduk, 36, appeared in court on Tuesday, July 14, as her case enters its seventh month.
The Cape Coral community leader was arrested on Dec. 16, 2025, after a concerned citizen called 911 reporting an apparent reckless driver on Del Prado Boulevard in Cape Coral.
“It looks like they’re definitely drunk,” the 911 caller said in the released call audio.
On Tuesday, Kaduk’s defense attorney Joseph Viacava asked the judge presiding over Kaduk’s case for a continuance because he discovered new information about that 911 caller.
The defense attorney told Lee County Judge Nicole Mirra that the caller, a key witness, spoke with news media multiple times, giving interviews in which statements contradict or differ from the original reports that she gave law enforcement, “which completely changes her testimony.”
The News-Press did not speak with the 911 caller.
Mirra approved the continuance and ordered that all the videos of the 911 caller giving interviews be turned over to both prosecuting and defense attorneys, with time to review the videos and question the witness.
Kaduk is now scheduled to appear in court again on Sept. 16.
So far in Kaduk’s fight against a drunken driving charge…
The News-Press has asked the Cape Coral City government if Kaduk will be allowed to keep her position on the City Council.
In response, the Cape Coral City Government said via email that “this is a personal legal matter unrelated to the councilmember’s duties or city operations” on Wednesday, June 24, just hours after the councilwoman’s last court appearance.
Kaduk, who was elected to council in November 2024, is accused of weaving through traffic and nearly sideswiping another vehicle, according to an arrest affidavit.
Cape Coral police officers stopped Kaduk approximately 5 miles from where the 911 caller first reported the incident.
Police said Kaduk had difficulty getting out of her car and had an uneven gait, an arrest affidavit states.
Officers said Kaduk told them that she had nothing to drink that evening and was returning home from a craft brewery and pizzeria in the city, a police report states.
Bodycam footage released to the News-Press reveals multiple police officers attempting to instruct her through a series of field sobriety tests, asking her several questions and requesting that she submit to testing for her blood-alcohol level.
After initial refusal to submit to test, Kaduk’s license reinstated
In the footage, Kaduk can be seen refusing to cooperate with law enforcement, failing field sobriety tests and declining a breath test.
In her arrest report, it is stated that more than an hour after she had been arrested, Kaduk agreed to a breath test at the Lee County Jail.
According to Florida statute, a person who refuses to submit to testing will have their driver’s license suspended for 1 year.
However, according to information referenced in a motion filed by prosecutors, Kaduk’s license has been reinstated.
The councilwoman was previously arrested in Lee County in July 2013, more than a decade before her election, for reckless driving. The case was resolved by February 2014 after Kaduk was sentenced to complete DUI school, community service and a brief probation period.
In 2013, she was accused of driving under the influence and pleaded no contest to reckless driving.
Tayeba Hussein is a breaking news reporter for The News-Press & Naples Daily News. Reach her at thussein@usatodayco.com.
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: 911 caller’s changing story delays Cape Coral councilwoman’s DUI case
Reporting by Tayeba Hussein, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tayeba Hussein, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
