BRENTWOOD • Shortly after prominent defense attorney Scott Rosenblum crashed his car in April and was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, he sat alone in a police interview room and berated himself for potentially ruining his career.

“I screwed up,” he said to himself according to a transcript of his statements provided by Brentwood police. “I ought to learn not to drink so much.”

However, he soon stopped blaming himself.

“I’m not going to take any tests … I was exhausted not (expletive deleted) up. I was exhausted I wasn’t drunk … I was just tired. I fell asleep.”

His monologue was recorded by the Brentwood Police Department while he was left alone early on April 29. On Thursday, the Post-Dispatch obtained investigative reports on the incident under Missouri’s Sunshine Law. The reports became available after the case concluded this week.

Rosenblum, 57, of Ladue, pleaded guilty Monday in Brentwood Municipal Court to careless and imprudent driving resulting in an accident and improper lane usage. It was part of a plea agreement. The DWI charge was dropped.

According to police reports, Rosenblum refused to take a breath test for alcohol and wouldn’t consent to give a blood sample; he slurred his speech and had poor balance. And as he stood along McKnight Road at the crash site, he asked police who had called the media and wondered aloud how long would it be before reporters showed up at the scene. He even debated with the officer about wearing handcuffs.

“Scott told me that I wasn’t going to put handcuffs on him,” Brentwood Patrolman Nicholas Seiverling wrote in his report. “I explained that it was how people were placed under arrest and after a short debate about it, Scott was secured in handcuffs.”

On the drive to the Brentwood police station, Rosenblum told the officer he was tired and had been working long hours in a trial. That trial, in which Rosenblum had defended a client accused of molesting a child at a Clayton hotel while drunk, had ended with an acquittal hours before his arrest.

“The odor of intoxicants was strong enough in the car that I was able to detect it while driving,” Seiverling wrote.

Reached by telephone Thursday night, Rosenblum said the report of what happened months ago shouldn’t be a news story. He declined to say whether he was drinking that night. He said he didn’t take a field sobriety test because he was injured in the crash and that the officer never asked to take his blood to test for alcohol.

Police at the time wouldn’t tell a reporter if Rosenblum had taken any tests for alcohol. But in the 60-plus pages of police reports, Brentwood officers spell out what happened after the crash.

THE ACCIDENT

Rosenblum was driving a 2013 Bentley south in the 1800 block of South McKnight Road on April 29. About 12:15 a.m. he apparently crossed the center line and crashed head-on into a northbound 2001 Toyota Tundra pickup driven by Ronald Monroe Smith, 27, of Arnold. Smith suffered what’s been described as minor injuries. Rosenblum, who had abrasions on his face, told police he wasn’t hurt.

Police say he swayed as he walked. He denied drinking any alcohol but later said he had one drink. He said he was an attorney and celebrating a big court case victory.

On Thursday night, Rosenblum said he had not been impaired by alcohol. “Obviously, the prosecutor felt there was not enough evidence to make the case” of DWI, he said. “I had all the characteristics of extreme exhaustion and I had a substantial head injury and severe whiplash.”

Rosenblum continued, “In retrospect, if you have even a drop to drink, you shouldn’t drive, especially if you are exhausted.”

He added, “It’s horribly unfortunate. I took responsibility for what I did. It was careless and imprudent.”

Even though Rosenblum told police he wasn’t hurt, he said Thursday that he had gone to see a doctor later and had suffered a severe head injury.

At one point, according to the police report, Rosenblum asked Seiverling what probable cause he had to arrest him for driving while intoxicated. “I explained that it was the totality of the circumstances surrounding this incident ranging from the crash to his obvious impaired state,” Seiverling wrote.

Rosenblum was booked and fingerprinted and cited for a municipal charge of DWI and careless and imprudent driving. He posted a $500 bail. Police say he used money that he had with him.

Smith, the man driving the pickup, was sitting in the back of an ambulance when an officer interviewed him. Smith had cuts all over his face and hands. He had several abrasions on his face, a bloody nose and a knot in the middle of his forehead. He said he had just bought his truck and hadn’t even made the first payment on it.

Smith told the officer that he had had one beer, a 16-ounce bottle of Budweiser at Busch Stadium earlier in the night. He agreed to take a field sobriety test and passed. A blood test revealed that he wasn’t intoxicated.

A video camera recorded Rosenblum while he was left alone in the police station. Police included a transcript of his comments in the report. According to police, Rosenblum said to himself, “I just (expletive deleted) up my career.” Two minutes later, he said, “I (expletive deleted) up.” Then, “I’m not that drunk.” Another minute passes and he adds, “I understand my responsibility … Goes with the turf. Screwed up got a DWI … You know what it’s a blessing. Nothing worse happened … I screwed up, I got a DWI … In my profession, there’s just a bunch of drinkers.”

His conversation with himself continues: “I ought to learn not to drink so much … Pure and simple … I won’t … I’m not going to take any tests … I was exhausted not (expletive) up. I was exhausted I wasn’t drunk … I was just tired. I fell asleep.”

STRUGGLE OVER LICENSE

In May, the Missouri Department of Revenue moved to revoke Rosenblum’s license for one year for failing to submit to a breath test.

Rosenblum is fighting that revocation. According to a petition filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court, Rosenblum argues that the revocation is illegal because he “was not legally arrested nor arrested with probable cause;” there were no “reasonable grounds” that he was driving a car while intoxicated; and that he did not refuse to submit to a chemical test.

A hearing on his request that his license be reinstated has been postponed until January.

As part of the plea deal on Monday, Rosenblum was placed on two years’ probation and must complete 100 hours of community service, as well as complete a substance abuse traffic offender program. The agreement also requires Rosenblum to not consume alcohol within eight hours of driving a vehicle and submit to a breath or blood test at the request of police.