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Friday, July 30, 2010 | Serving Del Rio and Val Verde County: Since 1929
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City secretary arrested on DWI charge
Published March 9, 2010
A traffic accident Friday night resulted in the arrest of City Secretary Susan Corp on a drunk driving charge, police said.
Corp was arrested about 8 p.m. Friday, March 5, after the car she was driving rear-ended a vehicle at the intersection of Kings Way and Cantu Road, Del Rio Police Department Capt. Bill Rattay said Monday.
According to an accident report released Monday by the DRPD pursuant to an open records request filed by the Del Rio News-Herald, police responded to a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of Cantu Road and Kings Way about 7:30 p.m. Friday.
The report showed a gray 2006 Nissan Altima, driven by Corp, ran into the back of a gray 2005 Pontiac Montana, driven by Jerry Garcia, 34, 507 Ave. K, while the Montana was stopped waiting for a red light in the 700 block of Cantu Road.
Corp was alone in her vehicle, and Garcia had three passengers: a 33-year-old woman, a girl age 13 and a boy age 15. Neither Corp nor Garcia nor the passengers in Garcia’s vehicle reported that they were injured in the collision.
Rattay said Corp, 50, 203 Quail Creek Drive, was arrested following the accident.
He said Corp was charged with the offense of driving while intoxicated, with one prior conviction, a Class A misdemeanor.
Rattay, who is the head of the police department’s enforcement division and the DRPD’s public information officer, told the Del Rio News-Herald in an interview Monday that police officers dispatched to the accident said Corp had bloodshot eyes, slurred her speech and had difficulty standing and walking. Rattay said the officers also noted that Corp’s breath smelled strongly of “an intoxicating beverage.”
Rattay said DRPD Senior Officer Ray Adauto asked Corp at the scene of the accident if she would submit to a series of field sobriety tests. Rattay said these physical tests, which include the walk-and-turn and horizontal nystagmus gaze test, allow trained officers to judge the level of a person’s intoxication.
Rattay said Corp refused Adauto’s request to perform the field sobriety tests and also refused to provide police with a specimen of her breath.
He said Adauto subsequently placed Corp under arrest and took her to the police station to be booked.
Rattay said when Adauto researched Corp’s criminal history, he found a prior conviction for driving while intoxicated in Val Verde County in 2002.
Rattay said Corp’s arrest was handled in exactly the same way any other DWI arrest would be handled.
Corp has served as city secretary since March 20, 2008, Assistant City Manager Robert Eads said today.
As city secretary, Corp, along with the city manager, city attorney and municipal court judge, serve at the discretion of the city council, Eads added.
He noted that “general” employees of the city can be terminated on “a final conviction of any felony charge,” according to the city’s employment policies.
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