A Cape Coral community leader is to appear in court for trial just over six months after she was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.
Rachel Kaduk, 36, was arrested 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.
Since her arrest, Kaduk has pleaded not guilty to one count of driving under the influence and one count of refusal to submit to testing. She has also completed a DUI program and a substance abuse intervention program.
Lee County Judge Nicole Mirra has set the councilwoman’s case for a trial to start on July 14.
The News-Press 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 a trial date was set.
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.
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 agrees 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.
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.
She was originally accused of driving under the influence and pleaded no contest to reckless driving.
Kaduk’s defense attorney, Joseph Viacava, also did not immediately respond to request for comment Wednesday.
Not the first Southwest Florida official accused recently of drunken driving
The mayor of Naples was arrested in Aug. 2024 for drunken driving. The case lingered more than a year until Teresa Heitmann pleaded no contest to one count of DUI with a blood alcohol content of 0.15 or higher.
A no contest plea means a defendant will not fight the charges and does not admit guilt, but she accepts the conviction and sentencing.
At the time of her arrest, Naples police officers measured Heitmann’s blood-alcohol level at 0.169, which is more than double the legal limit.
A motorist accused her of chasing him to his house, tailgating and flashing the lights of her Porsche at the other vehicle, according to her arrest report.
Heitmann claims that on that night, she got into an incident with a driver in another vehicle in a roundabout. She then followed them home, tailgating and flashing her lights at the vehicle, according to an arrest report.
Just a month after being convicted and sentenced to probation — among several other restrictions — Heitmann was accused of violating the terms of her probation. As a result, she was arrested once again on April 20.
Court documents say that on March 26 Heitmann tested positive for cannabinoids. Her attorney, Derek Verderamo on April 21 argued in court two samples collected from Heitmann tested negative twice on March 26 and March 30 for illegal cannabinoids.
In exchange, Assistant State Attorney Sabsina Karimi argued that there is no way to verify when she tested negative, adding that there are several ways a test may come back negative.
Collier County Judge Christopher Brown ordered $10,000 bond and restricted Heitmann’s travel outside Collier County except for work purposes.
As part of her release conditions, Heitmann will also have to check in once a week with her probation officer.
She was released on bond one day after the arrest. She is scheduled to appear in court for a probation hearing on July 6.
“We are aware of the situation involving Mayor Teresa Heitmann,” Monique Barnhart-Tiberio, city spokesperson, wrote in an April 21 emailed statement.
Barnhart-Tiberio said the city operates under a Council-Manager form of government and that the city manager is responsible for overseeing all city operations and administrative functions.
“The City Charter provides that, in the Mayor’s absence, the Vice Mayor is authorized to execute any agreement or document otherwise requiring the Mayor’s signature and to conduct public meetings and hearings as needed,” Barnhart-Tiberio wrote.
Ted Blankenship is currently vice mayor.
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: Cape Coral community leader headed to trial, accused of DUI
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
