This time, the incident did not result in a fatal bicycle/car hit and run accident, but the cathedral cleric's driving has been described by the DWI Hit Parade as: "Boozing Episcopal Priest Diane Reiners drove like pin-ball machine DUI in Holland." DWI Hit Parade is a Nevada-based Internet website which provides "news and commentary about those who choose to drive impaired."

Headline making Episcopal clergywomen

In January, DWI Hit Parade headlined Bishop Heather Cook's tragic story of her fatal drunk driving incident in Baltimore as: "Boozing Bishop Busted for Pot, DUI in 2010, Killed Bicyclist & Fled Scene." Both the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland's bishop suffragan (Cook) and the assisting priest (Reiners) at St. John the Divine are making headlines, not only on DWI Hit Parade, but also in the secular and ecclesial press.

For the time being, Bishop Cook's story has been kicked to the back burner. Currently, there are no daily headlines exposing more of the bishop's background and the lengths that the Diocese of Maryland and The Episcopal Church are going though to distance themselves from the beleaguered member of the Episcopal House of Bishops.

Over the weekend, the House of Bishops met at the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, NC. Heather Cook was not among them. Facing serious criminal charges and having been restricted by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Maryland bishop suffragan is keeping a very low profile as her own criminal court dates slowly creeps up.

As the Cook story temporarily fades in the background, the Reiners' story is just starting to take shape.

New York cathedral priest arrested exiting Holland Tunnel

Diane Reiners, 53, was nailed by New York-New Jersey Port Authority Police Officer Christopher Paskovitch after she exited the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City, New Jersey, during rush hour on Friday-the-13th.

Various media outlets report that the Port Authority was alerted by "frantic" 911 calls by "alarmed motorists" in the Holland Tunnel during the height of Friday (March 13) night's rush-hour weekend dash to leave the city that the driver of a New Jersey-bound 2004 orange Toyota was allegedly driving in an "erratic manner" ... "swerving through lanes, hitting the tunnel curb and even stopping in the middle of the road for no reason" ... and "weaving so dangerously that the tires of her Toyota were hitting a curb inside the tunnel."

When the orange Toyota emerged from the western terminus of the Holland Tunnel, it was observed by Port Authority Police Officer Paskovitch who "saw the car exit the north tube, stop in the roadway for no apparent reason and then continue." The Port Authority law enforcement officer pulled behind the Toyota, being driven by Diane Reiners, and pulled it over on 14th Street just west of Marin Boulevard in Jersey City.

"The officer noticed the suspect's eyes were bloodshot and watery and in speaking to her there was an odor of alcohol on her breath," explained Port Authority's Senior Police Public Information Officer Joseph Pentangelo in a news release. "She was slurring her words. She failed a field sobriety test and was placed under arrest."

The Port Authority also reported that, "She refused a breath test."

Her booking pictures, released by the Port Authority, show a rail thin woman with long, straight salt and pepper hair draped over her left shoulder. She was wearing a black open-necked clerical shirt without the priest's collar. Her eyes were wide open and there was a shell-shocked look about her.

Open bottle of Absolut Vodka in car

Officer Paskivitch allegedly found an open bottle of Absolut Vodka in her vehicle and another water bottle containing vodka. After failing a field sobriety test, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine's assisting priest was taken into custody, where she was photographed and processed, and her car was impounded where "it remained in police custody until someone who was sober could come and pick it up." The Toyota was released to an "acquaintance" on Monday (March 16). In addition to the liquor, the arresting NY-NJ Port Authority officer also allegedly found a stash of controlled substances in her vehicle.

"Unruly Pastor"

Her case initially landed the criminal level of the Jersey City Municipal Court which is a court "of limited jurisdiction, having responsibility for motor vehicle and parking tickets, minor criminal-type offenses, municipal ordinance offenses, and other offenses." The entire case was initially being handled as a minor criminal "disorderly persons" case.

Diane Reiners has a shadowy background. Not much information is available about her on line. She had a Twitter account under the nom de plume "Unruly Pastor" in which she described herself as an "unruly priest, disaster-recovery worker, 100 percent city girl. " She also notes: "My shoes never match and I need God's grace so many times a day. So many times. There I go again."

The Twitter account has now been deactivated and her Facebook page also seems to have been taken down.

Widowhood

For the most part she is known as Diane Reiners, sometimes using the middle initial 'M'; at other times she may be using the middle initial 'C'. In 2006, there is at least one reference of her as Diane Reiners Nelson, taking the last name of her British-born husband Brian Nelson.

Intelius, an Internet public records service, lists Diane Reiners' birthdate as Dec. 29, 1961. There are no listed known associates or family members nor other criminal encounters with law enforcement. She was widowed on Nov. 22, 2009, while still an Episcopal seminary student; she has written about her husband Brian's losing his battle with cancer in the March 2010 "Marie Claire" magazine, a woman's publication focusing on health, beauty and fashion.

In the magazine article "For Better, for Worse" she writes about dealing with her husband's necessary medications: "On bad days, though, Brian's in pain. He'll spend a week in bed. We keep pillboxes with compartments for morning, noon, evening, and bedtime medications that treat his condition, stave off infections, and manage his pain."

Apparently it is dealing with the aftermath of the death of her husband that has helped drive the Episcopal woman priest over the edge to drink.

The New York Post reports that it was a "personal tragedy sent Episcopal priest Diane Reiners on a downward spiral" which eventually led to her drunk driving arrest on Friday afternoon. The "personal tragedy" that she apparently suffered was when her husband died a very painful death from cancer of the tongue leaving her a young widow. She was still in her 40s when her husband died.

Before her ordination, she tended bar at Caffe Cielo, an eatery in Hell's Kitchen near the piers. Her former boss is quoted as saying that back then "drinking wasn't part of her MO."

Diane Reiners was ordained to the diaconate on March 5, 2011 by Bishop Mark Sisk who also ordained her to the priesthood on September 29, 2012 at the St. John the Divine Cathedral. A YouTube video shows that three bishops were at her priesting: Bishop Sisk (XV New York); his coadjutor Bishop Andrew Dietsche (New York XVI); and retired Bishop Andrew Smith (XIV Connecticut) who in 2010 signed on with the diocesan staff of New York as an assistant bishop.

9/11 volunteer coordinator

Before her priesthood, Reiners made a small name for herself as one of four dedicated 9/11 on-site volunteer coordinators at St. Paul's Episcopal Chapel -- a chapel of ease for Trinity-Wall Street. For nine gruelling months, she helped with the relief ministry geared towards the 14,000 volunteers who ministered to the relief workers following the aftermath of the 9/11 attack which flattened the World Trade Center. Two of the coordinators -- Elizabeth Garnsey and Diane Reiners -- became Episcopal priests following their intense involvement at St. Paul's.

In addition to her work at St. Paul's, Reiners is also claims to be an actress. She has been a reading coordinator at Lark Theatre on Eighth Avenue in New York and has one listing on Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB) as unit production manager for "Dirty Shield," a 2005 video filmed in Harlem and Yonkers about police corruption. .

Tuesday (March 17) while millions of New Yorkers were jubilantly celebrating St. Patrick's Day and the parade down Fifth Avenue, Diane Reiners again crossed into New Jersey. She had her initial court date in Jersey City Municipal Court. Her next court appearance was slated for March 27 in the criminal level of the Jersey City Municipal Court where she was to be facing criminal charges for "disorderly persons" offenses.

Case lands in superior court

However, on Wednesday (March 18) Reiner's case got kicked up to the Central Judicial Processing Court, an arrangement court for the Hudson County Superior Court. The case was transferred to the higher court because one of the criminal charges against her (criminal possession of a controlled and dangerous substance in a motor vehicle) is an "indictable" offense. Now Reiners is to be arraigned by the Central Judicial Processing Court on March 27 at that time the exact extent of the charges filed against her is to be disclosed.

Currently, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office is still examining the arrest record to determine exactly what the criminal charges will be. Since Reiners' case has landed in the higher superior court system, the previously scheduled the lower municipal court date has been cancelled.

Following the House of Bishops meeting, VOL asked Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori if the New York priest would be involved in a Title IV action for Conduct Unbecoming a Member of the Clergy. She answered, "I think that is a question for the diocesan Bishop of New York."

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline