A former Rhode Island mayoral candidate wasn’t very diplomatic toward a cop during a recent traffic stop — calling the officer a “d–k” while dropping the ol’, “Do you know who I am?” line.

It all started on December 18 … Maria Bucci, the current chair of the Cranston Democratic City Committee, was pulled over by a police officer in East Greenwich, RI, and the situation quickly turned ugly.

Making matters worse, the officer switched on his bodycam, capturing every moment of Bucci’s terrible attitude. As you can see, Bucci was difficult right from the start, making faces at the officer as he tells her she smells like booze and was driving erratically.

Bucci then told the cop to stop embarrassing her and her friend, who was with her. After the cop says he’s just doing his job, Bucci did her, “Do you know who I am” routine.

The cop says he doesn’t know her, and then warns her not to name drop because it’s not going to work with him.

At some point, things suddenly take a turn for the worse, and Bucci goes off the rails before getting cuffed and stuffed inside the back of a patrol car.

Whitney Purvis has avoided arrest in her ongoing child support case after coughing up a hefty payment ordered by a judge … TMZ has learned.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, the “16 and Pregnant” alum was on the brink of being arrested after the court found she’d fallen more than $23K behind on child support for her kids — Weston Jr. and River — with ex Weston Gosa.

The judge ordered Purvis be taken into custody and jailed unless she paid a $4K lump sum purge payment to avoid jail time. Court docs now show she paid the full amount … so the judge rescinded the order before she was ever arrested.

Purvis is still on the hook moving forward because she’s been ordered to continue paying $353 per month in current child support, plus $20 per month toward the arrears, along with additional processing fees.

We broke the story … Purvis was previously in police custody after being arrested on a felony involuntary manslaughter charge tied to an alleged fatal overdose. Police claimed she intentionally distributed Tranq, a fentanyl-xylazine mixture, which they say caused John Mark Harris to die from a toxic overdose.

The Browns are getting a brand-new stadium in a few years … and Cleveland legend Joe Thomas tells TMZ Sports he wouldn’t mind if the team decided to decorate the place with a big ol’ statue of himself!!

The Orange and Brown announced their plans earlier this year to build a domed venue in Brook Park … a polarizing decision for the folks in Northeast Ohio, to say the least.

The six-time first-team All-Pro tackle admitted he was initially hesitant about losing the elements with an indoor facility … but has since come around after considering the new home-field advantage that’ll come with it — and how it’ll help the economy.

The real shame is Thomas never made it past the Divisional Round of the playoffs at any point in his career from 2007-2017.

With that being said … how would Thomas feel about being immortalized outside the new digs??

“I’m not gonna say anything about it, but you can be leading that charge,” the Hall of Famer told Lucas Widman earlier this month.

“That would be unbelievable. I haven’t really thought about something like that, but that would be pretty cool.”

Thomas did allow himself to imagine what it would be like … and said the honor would be a big hit for all his loved ones, too.

“I could bring my family and my kids out there and put a little Hall of Fame Beef hat on like I got right here on my Hall of Fame bust back there … and maybe a little Christmas light necklace around his neck!”