The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe immediately issued an apology following his arrest on suspicion of DUI on Saturday.
According to the statement, Mayor Thorpe was pulled over by California Highway Patrol officers early Saturday morning after having dined with a friend Friday, March 18.
The CHP issued a statement to the media indicating that Thorpe had been heading northbound on Interstate 60 in his Volvo when CHP officers pulled him over.
Mayor Thorpe was later released from jail at approximately 3:30 a.m. The small-town Mayor then issued his filmed apology via Twitter later that day.
During the broadcast message, Mayor Thorpe indicated that he was limited in what he could share with the public on the advice of legal counsel.
“Although I never felt inhibited by the drink I had with my dinner, I am deeply sorry for the lapse in judgment, and I hope you can forgive me,” Mayor Thorpe said.
His arrest in no way helps Mayor Thorpe, who is facing persistent calls for his ouster via a recall election. Some Antioch residents feel that Thorpe is not only listening to the community but has also gone against some city policies as Mayor.
“I think it’s appalling to sit there and say I had ‘a drink’. What? Was dinner at midnight, and then you left? That’s more than one drink.” City Council member Lori Ogorchock told CBS News affiliate KPIX in San Francisco in an interview.
Organizers of the efforts to recall Mayor Thorpe have until May 11 to collect 9,500 signatures from Antioch’s 111,000 residents to put Mayor Thorpe’s recall on the ballot.
