SoCal Lawmaker Roger Hernandez Apologizes for Concord DUI

by Bay City News

Hours after police released State Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, D-West Covina, was legally drunk when police arrested him on suspicion of DUI in Concord last month, the politician issued an apology.

Test results released today show that Hernandez' blood alcohol level was 0.08 at the time of his arrest in Concord on March 27 -- just over the legal threshold for being considered legally intoxicated.

In a statement issued this afternoon, he called the test results "a huge wakeup call" and said "I may have made a poor judgment thinking that I was sober enough to drive after a couple of drinks over the course of an evening."

Hernandez, 36, said in the statement that he hopes "others can learn from how dangerous it could be to drink any amount of alcohol prior to driving, as I have" and apologized to constituents, family, colleagues and staff "for any embarrassment I may have caused."

Hernandez was visiting the Bay Area on March 27 when, around 2 a.m., an officer spotted the Southern California assemblyman weaving in a car near Concord Avenue and Meridian Park Boulevard and failing to use turn signals, according to police.

He was taken to Concord Police Jail, where the blood test was performed. A 29-year-old woman who was with him in the car was released at the scene.

Police said they have turned their information over to the Contra Costa County District Attorney's office for a charging decision. A spokeswoman for District Attorney Mark Peterson said the office is still reviewing the case.

Hernandez is the state Assembly's assistant majority whip, and represents the 57th Assembly district, which includes the cities of Azusa, Baldwin Park, Covina and Irwindale.

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