A South Sound politician reportedly ran - or drove, more approriately - into some trouble with the law over the weekend.
Tacoma City Councilman Ryan Mello was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, according to Mynorthwest.com. He was driving a car with passengers, according to the report.
The trooper asked Mello to step out of his car and ran him through field sobriety tests. The trooper determined that he was impaired and put him under arrest for driving under the influence.
Gill said Mello's blood alcohol content reading was over 0.08. "He was polite and cooperative. During the entire time he did not identify himself as a councilman. He was treated no different than anyone else."
Mello's arrest prompted reaction on Lakewood-JBLM Patch's Facebook page.
User Stacy posted on our wall: "Ryan's arrest for this crime follows a long list of supposedly responsible elected officials who choose to make immature and irresponsible decisions to drive while drunk, endangering the lives of everyone around them."
"There will likely be no political consequences for the favored-by-some Mello, however he may be hit with having to pay $5,000 - $10,000, and have a blow tube in his car for a year--or he may plead down to a WETNEG (negligent driving)," she added.
Stacy is right in that Mello isn't the first politician to be arrested for DUI. What do you think, Patch users? Do you think that, because of his position, will get a slap on the wrist if convicted of DUI?
