HOUSTON (AP) – Police documents reveal previously unreported details about a decades-old drunken-driving arrest of Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke.
O’Rourke has long acknowledged the 1998 drunken-driving arrest, saying he made a serious mistake.
The Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News recently obtained copies of state and local police reports pertaining to the arrest. They show O’Rourke was found intoxicated after losing control of his vehicle on Interstate 10 and hitting a truck. Nobody was hurt in the accident in Anthony, Texas, about 20 miles from El Paso. A witness says O’Rourke tried to drive away, but the witness stopped him until officers arrived.
O’Rourke had just turned 26. He did a court-ordered diversion program and a drunken-driving charge was dismissed.
O’Rourke is now a congressman. He’s challenging Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in November.