LA MESA, Calif. -- Police in La Mesa said the mayor and a city employee were apparently intoxicated when officers gave them a ride home after they were discovered last week.
According to La Mesa Police Chief Alan Lanning, the incident took place Feb. 25. Police received a 911 call around 10:30 p.m. about two people passed out in front a home in the 7600 block of Chicago Drive.
The caller told the 911 dispatcher, "We've got someone lying in the middle of the sidewalk here. There's a car running with the car door open, but this guy got off [out of] the passenger side, and there's someone in the driver's side that appears to be keeled over. I can't tell if they're injured or just drunk."
Lanning said when officers arrived, they found Mayor Art Madrid, 73, lying on the sidewalk and a female city employee in the driver's seat of a white Ford Explorer belonging to Madrid. Both were apparently intoxicated, about one block from Madrid's home, Lanning said.
The responding officers, identified as Dan Herrin and Jacob Whisler, said there was vomit around the SUV. The officers did not give a sobriety test to Madrid or the woman, according to Lanning. Instead, Herrin and Whisler drove the pair to Madrid's home. They unlocked his front door with his keys and left them there, Lanning said.
"They have done that in similar circumstances with other people, and that in this particular case, had it not been the mayor, they felt they would have done the same thing," Lanning told NBC 7/39.
Councilwoman Ruth Sterling said she is not pleased with the message being sent to the community.
"Now the message is out there that, 'Hey, our police may drive you home, and you know what? If you can't find your keys, we'll even open the door for you,' " Sterling said.
A public City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday night at La Mesa City Hall. However, discussion of the incident is expected to be limited, because the issue is not on the agenda. One councilman said he expects a special session, perhaps later this week, to fully examine the controversy.
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