A video of the arrest shows Wendy Carrillo looking so inebriated that she appears starting to fall in the middle of a sobriety test, saved from collapsing only by two LAPD officers at her side who caught and supported her as she struggled to stay upright.
By Tony Castro
LATINA RISING STAR AND CITY COUNCIL candidate Wendy Carrillo, whom the Los Angeles Times glowingly praised as the “natural alternative to Kevin de León” has been arrested for alleged drunk driving in a stunning fall from grace that has shattered her immigrant American dream into ruins of a nightmarish political scandal of its own.
Carrillo, 43, an accomplished two-term California State Assemblywoman, was arrested early Friday on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles — allegedly having a blood-alcohol count double the legal limit or more — and was taken into police custody.
A video of the arrest posted by ABC7, though grainy, shows Carrillo looking so inebriated that she appears beginning to fall in the middle of a sobriety test, saved from collapsing only by two LAPD officers at her side who caught and supported her as she struggled to stay upright.
“Carrillo was later seen using a car bumper for support as she stumbled through the test before the officers allowed her to finish the test in private because she is a ‘dignitary,'” the Daily Mail reported.
In another televised video of her interview with police at the scene, Carrillo admits to an officer that she was driving the car and says, “I’m sorry. I just… I sneezed, and I lost track of the vehicle.”
Wow. What was that again? Play the video one more time: “I sneezed, and I lost track of the vehicle.”
Carrillo is a USC graduate school alumnus. She thought she was savvy enough to run for Congress to succeed Xavier Becerra when he was appointed Attorney General of California. She did succeed in replacing State Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez when he was sworn in to the U.S. House of Representatives. And in the legislature, she chairs an Assembly budget subcommittee. All that and she uses a kindergarten excuse for an accident because she’s too drunk to know better?
Such a surprisingly steep fall is historic in itself among rising Latino political stars. For Carrillo, for whom the luster is likely gone for good, it is a sad, surprising turnaround of political fortunes. She immigrated to L.A. with her family from El Salvador when she was five, and her life had been one success built upon another, without an end in sight.
Even ousting Kevin de León from his council seat seemed like a real possibility for Carrillo. Politics, however, rarely rewards stupidity and foolishness. Carrillo would now appear ridiculously hypocritical in attacking de León, whose political troubles stemming from a leaked audio recording involving racist language do not include any criminal charges or reckless behavior.
There are no arrest and booking mug shots of him or wee hours stumbling drunk failed sobriety test videos to embarrass him with voters or to have to explain, if that is even possible. The line “I sneezed, and I lost track of the vehicle” works only if you’re doing comedy, Wendy.
As Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano wrote just hours after her release from jail:
“… her arrest will inevitably launch a sea of ‘Wino Wendy’ opposition mailers from now until the March primary. Whether her chances are kaput is something Eastside voters get to decide — if she stays in the race. But she can no longer claim the moral high ground against De León…
“It’s one thing to be caught talking bigoted trash in a secretly recorded conversation. It’s another to get behind the wheel after too many drinks and crash into the night. That stain to Carrillo’s reputation and career is permanent.”
Police determined that Carrillo had been driving under the influence and caused a traffic collision while having a high blood-alcohol count, according to a summary of the arrest provided by LAPD Capt. Kelly Muniz.
Having a high blood-alcohol count indicates the suspect’s alcohol level was “double the legal limit or more,” Muniz told the Los Angeles Times.
A witness whose car was one of the two damaged in the crash told reporters that he heard a loud bang just as the collision occurred.
“Very loud, huge bang, and then heard like skidding,” he told ABC7. “There’s crashes that happen right here all the time, so we knew right away that it was for sure a car crash.”
“As soon as we looked out the balcony, you could see her Audi was in the middle of the street, and airbags deployed, and she was in there and you could see her moving and stuff. We walked out and asked if she was okay, she was hand-gesturing like she was all good, thumbs up and stuff.
“As soon as she got out of the car and started talking to us, it was really clear to me, as a non-expert, that was she was intoxicated. You could smell alcohol. She was slurring her speech. She was very impaired.”
Carrillo’s car had struck another car, which then hit his, according to the 32-year-old witness, who declined to provide his name out of privacy concerns. He said he spoke with Carrillo, then called 911.
“She had very slurred speech and was very disoriented,” the witness said.
Police officers allowed Carrillo to finish her sobriety test in orivate away from any witnesses. In video from the scene, an officer can be heard explaining that he let her do so because of the political position she holds.
“It was brought to my attention that this person is an elected official in the state senate,” the officer said.
“So sometimes, for people that are considered to be, for lack of a better term, ‘dignitary,’ we allow them to do the investigation in a private area.
“It does not change the fact that she has been drinking. She has been involved in a crash.”
Carrillo was booked on suspicion of DUI, according to the LAPD. Jail records show she was arrested around 1:30 a.m. and booked around 4 a.m. She was released on her own recognizance around 1 p.m. and given a tentative court date of Dec. 1, according to jail records.
She was arrested after officers went to the 6200 block of Monterey Road near Highland Park just off the Pasadena Freeway on a report of a traffic collision involving a motorist who had struck some parked vehicles, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
She spent several hours in jail, and the Times‘ David Zahniser was waiting for Carrillo Friday afternoon when she was released from the LAPD’s Metropolitan Detention Center. She would not talk about whether she had been driving drunk nor where she had been before the crash.
She also would not say if she intends to remain in the council race. The election is in March. As of last month, her campaign had raised more than $180,000, according to campaign finance records, or about S60,000 more than de León.
Carrillo was a front runner. Of that, there was no doubt. Few legislators could boast of the impressive connection she had made, especially with such high ranking fellow Democrats as California Governor Gavin Newsom with whom she has worked on several occasions.
In 2019, just a year after wedding on her first full term to the State Assembly, she had visited her homeland, El Salvador with the governor and his partner Siebel Newsom.
When Carrillo sought reelection, Newsom was among the first to endorse her, calling her a “tireless champion for working people, families, and safe COVID economic recovery efforts” and noting how he had “worked closely with Wendy” on a number of issues.
Los Angeles Times writer Jean Guerrero sang her praises in a glowing June 26 column headlined: “Why Wendy Carrillo is a natural alternative to Kevin de León on L.A.’s City Council.”
Now that Wendy Carrillo no longer exists, and the only question is: when will she drop out of the City Council race?
Boyle Heights resident Nadine Diaz, a geriatric social worker who is also in that crowded field running for the seat, said Friday that she believes Carrillo should pull out of the campaign.
“Obviously she needs help,” said Diaz. “It’s unfortunate what happened to her, but she should drop out and take care of the situation and her well-being.”
On Friday afternoon, attempting to put the best spin on a humiliating drunken driving arrest, Carrillo issued this statement:
“Early this morning I was involved in a traffic incident involving parked vehicles. Thankfully, no one was harmed, and I have been cooperating with law enforcement. As a public servant, I am aware that I must adhere to a higher standard that demands personal accountability for my conduct, and I accept responsibility for my actions.
“I sincerely apologize to my family, constituents, colleagues and staff for any actions of mine that have fallen short of that expectation. I intend to seek the necessary help and support. As I do so, I remain dedicated to my family, my constituents and the community that I grew-up in and am proud to represent.”
But that is too little too late and just not enough to make up for a foolish lapse in judgment.
“She’s no longer going to be thought of as just a homegrown champion of the Eastside,” wrote the Times’ Gustavo Arellano. “She’s the latest Latina politician to make her constituents proud, then embarrass them with stupid falls from grace that never had to happen.”
Tony Castro, the former award-winning Los Angeles columnist and author of CHICANO POWER (E.P. Dutton, 1974), is a writer-at-large with LAMonthly.org. CHICANO POWER will be republished in a 50th anniversary edition in 2024. He can be reached at tony@tonycastro.com.
