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Ex-president’s brother arrested in HB
by Robb Fulcher
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Roger Clinton outside his former Redondo home. File photo by Kevin Cody |
Hermosa police routinely patrol the city’s popular downtown around closing time on weekends, but Saturday marked a break in the routine when they arrested Roger Clinton, brother of ex-President Bill Clinton, for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.
"It doesn’t matter who you are, this can happen to you," Hermosa Beach Police Officer Paul Wolcott said.
It was just over a month ago that Clinton, 44, a Torrance resident, received a pardon from his presidential brother for a cocaine conviction, for which he also served one year in prison.
The Saturday incident began at 2:26 a.m. when an officer spotted a motorist in a Ford Explorer bumping the curb as he made an abrupt right turn from Hermosa Avenue onto 14th Street, Wolcott said. As the officer followed, the motorist made a left tun after signaling for a right turn, straddled the center line on two streets, stopped well over the limit line in two intersections, and made two more left turns without signaling at all, Wolcott said.
The driver returned to Hermosa Avenue and was pulled over by police between 14th and 15th streets. The motorist, later identified as Clinton, failed a field sobriety test, then was taken to the police station where he registered blood-alcohol levels of .08 and then .09 on a breath test, Wolcott said.
California law sets .08 as the level at which a driver is presumed to be impaired by alcohol, Wolcott said.
Clinton was booked into the city jail, where he was held in a cell by himself for his own safety as a well-known detainee, Wolcott said. Clinton was not required to post bond, and was released on his own recognizance shortly after 6 a.m.
Clinton was cooperative with officers throughout the incident, Wolcott said.
Clinton told officers he drank three to five beers between 10:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m., Wolcott said. Before the arrest, a police officer on foot patrol shooed Clinton away from the Lighthouse Café after employees were trying to clear the nightspot shortly before closing time, and Clinton allegedly tried to get back inside, Wolcott said.
Clinton, a musician and author of the book Growing Up Clinton, was convicted in 1984 of conspiracy to distribute one gram of cocaine. He was pardoned by President Clinton in one of his last acts before leaving the White House.
Roger Clinton was scheduled to appear in Torrance Superior Court April 2.
"The message we want to get out is, don’t drink and drive," Wolcott said. "Don’t take a chance. There are a dozen taxicabs [at the downtown Pier Plaza] waiting to take you home. Save yourself $10,000."
The Automobile Club of America has concluded that the average cost of a DUI, including a fine, lawyers’ fees, insurance premium increases and fees for restoring a driver’s license, totals about $10,000. ER