A Sydney man caught drink-driving at Helensburgh has admitted trying to bribe a NSW police officer not to charge him.
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Senior Constable Damien Bush warned 55-year-old Van Tuy Nguyen several times that he was being recorded on the highway patrol vehicle's in-car video on the afternoon of July 29, but that didn't stop the Vietnamese man from repeatedly offering him money to "let him go".
Court documents said Snr Cst Bush and another officer were patrolling the Princes Highway near Helensburgh when they were passed by a white Hyundai iLoad van possibly being driven unregistered.
They pulled the vehicle over and spoke with Nguyen, who said it was a work vehicle.
Officers noticed Nguyen's eyes were bloodshot and glassy and his speech was slurred. When breath tested, he returned a positive reading for alcohol.
Nguyen was then captured on the in-car video offering Snr Cst Bush a bribe, at one stage asking whether "anything could be done" before telling police they could "take all his money if they let him go".
He was told nothing could be done to prevent him being breath tested. Nguyen then removed a large number of $50 and $100 notes from his wallet and said "this is $1,000, take it".
Snr Cst Bush told him to put the money away and stop attempting to bribe him, however Nguyen held the cash out towards the highway patrol officer and insisted he "take the money and [let] him go".
Snr Cst Bush again refused the offer and reminded Nguyen the in-car video was still recording. Nguyen stopped momentarily but made the same offer again 10 minutes later.
Nguyen was arrested and taken to Helensburgh Police Station where a subsequent breath analysis returned an alcohol reading of 0.081.
Nguyen told the officers he had drunk 5-6 bottles of VB 24 hours earlier and had consumed one beer at a work site at Shell Cove around noon, without eating.
Nguyen was charged with mid-range drink-driving and had his licence suspended on the spot.
He was later charged with the bribery offence.
Nguyen entered pleas of guilty to both charges in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday.
Police documents revealed Nguyen's traffic record is far from blemish-free and includes four previous drink-driving charges, two disqualified driving charges and two offences of driving with a cancelled licence, as well as an offence of supplying false information to police.
The case was adjourned to October 15 for sentencing.
A sentencing assessment report detailing Nguyen's background is expected to be tendered in court on the day.