Tucson’s so-called “DUI bride” is fed up with her 15 minutes of fame and is fighting back against a police account that she was driving impaired on the way to her wedding.
Marana police also are fighting back against a claim by the woman’s attorney that the bride story was fake news manufactured by arresting officers.
“If it’s a hoax, it’s a hoax of her own making,” Marana police spokesman Sgt. Chriswell Scott said Thursday of Amber Young.
Young, 32, was arrested on suspicion of DUI on Monday after a three-vehicle crash around 10:30 a.m. near West Orange Grove and North Thornydale roads.
A photo of Young, wearing a long white dress and handcuffs as she was led to a police cruiser, went viral after Marana police posted it to department’s Twitter account.
It sparked calls from media outlets around the world trying to contact Young for comment.
Young’s defense attorney, Michelle Behan of Tucson, said her client also “received numerous negative messages from persons on social media as a result of the police tweet.”
On Thursday, Behan put out a news release accusing Marana police of making up the story that Young was driving to her wedding ceremony when she was arrested.
“Ms. Young is not getting married nor is she even engaged,” and the white dress she was wearing was a “sun dress” rather than a wedding dress, Behan’s news release said.
Behan demanded the police department make a “full and complete retraction” of the “untruthful story.”
Scott, responding to the defense attorney’s claims, said police body cam video clearly shows Young telling arresting officers that she was on her way to her wedding and the white frock she was wearing was her wedding dress.
Young shared several details of the nuptials, such as the time and location of the ceremony and her plans to stop off and buy wedding flowers on her way to the service, Scott said.
“She absolutely told us that story,” Scott said of Young. “If she fabricated the story about the wedding, that lies solely on her.”
