San Antonio's District 10 City Councilman, Marc Whyte, was busted on a DWI charge late Friday night after cops say he was caught speeding and driving erratically, the San Antonio Police Department reported. Caught in the act on Northeast Loop 410, Councilman Whyte was doing 80 in a 65, according to a police affidavit. His eyes described as "glassy" and "red," police claimed the councilman smelled of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet after they stopped him, according to an Express-News report.
The councilman, who only seven months ago stepped in for another council member also marred by a DWI incident, refused to blow into a breathalyzer and had blood drawn only after the police secured a warrant. The sample was sent off for analysis to the Texas Department of Public Safety lab in Austin. "I did not feel intoxicated when I drove home last night," Whyte stated in a release, "I never get behind the wheel when I feel as if I’ve had too much to drink. But that isn’t the point. Nobody should drive even if they have had just one drink," KSAT reported. Whyte's arraignment is on the books for Jan. 30, and he's out on a $2,000 bond.
Silent on the matter, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg declined to comment through his communication director. Meanwhile, some council members expressed shock and disappointment, while others offered a reserve judgement on the incident. "It’s a shock to me," Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez told the Express-News about the intoxication charge against Whyte, whom he said he considered "pretty good friends" with. On the other hand, District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez was frank in his assessment, conceding that Whyte's willingness to own his actions demonstrated a certain maturity, but insisted that, "you can’t unring the bell."
Whyte is among several recent high-profile DWI cases in San Antonio, a city which has reportedly had the highest per capita rate of alcohol-related crashes among Texas' largest cities in 2021. Former council member Clayton Perry's DWI charge exactly a year prior, and subsequent guilty plea, preceded Whyte's election to the seat Perry vacated. Whyte, a lawyer by trade, declared his commitment to a collaborative approach, while maintaning a conservative stance on public safety. Notwithstanding the current allegations, Whyte's political promises hung in the balance, as the city continued to grapple with the implications of his deeds, and await a comprehensive understanding of his BAC at the time of arrest, which will unveil upon completion of lab analysis, the Express-News noted.
