Murrieta mayor arrested on suspicion of DUI after crash that injured four cheerleaders
LatestThe Southern California mayor that ignited a hate storm against unaccompanied minors in his city is in a new controversy of his own. Murrieta mayor Alan Long was arrested on “suspicion of driving under the influence causing injury” after he crashed his car and injured four cheerleaders on Thursday night.
Long, 44, was driving a full-sized pickup truck when he crashed into the back of a car carrying four young girls who had just left a pep rally, according to the local newspaper The Press Enterprise. The young women, ranging in age 14-17, sustained moderate to major injuries and were all hospitalized.
Long made national headlines in July after comments he made launched anti-immigrant groups into action.
“We have been informed that 140 immigrants will be arriving as early as tomorrow,” Long said at a press conference. “This is a failure to enforce federal law at the federal level,” long also said in a statement later.
The next day local Tea Party and immigrant vigilante groups blocked federal buses carrying families and migrant children from entering the Murrieta Border Patrol facility, about 80 miles south of Los Angeles.
Long’s attorney, Virginia Blumenthal, told the L.A. Times on Friday that the mayor’s blood alcohol level was “well below” the legal limit.Police maintain Long showed “signs and symptoms consistent with alcohol impairment.”
Long was arrested by his own city’s police agency, the Murrieta Police Department. The mayor showed signs of alcohol impairment, which was confirmed after a field sobriety tests, police said.
Long was booked into the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta and was released Friday on $50,000 bail.
Long is running for reelection in the Nov. 4 election. He’s due in court the following month.