Mesa city councilman pleads guilty to extreme DUI
Jul 20, 2017, 2:24 PM
(Facebook Photo)
(Facebook Photo)
PHOENIX — A Mesa councilman pleaded guilty to charges of driving under the influence in the extreme in a Phoenix suburb.
Online Tempe court information indicated Ryan Winkle’s unspecified sentence was handed down in municipal court Thursday.
Tempe police said Winkle was given a criminal citation for DUI on May 7 after the car he was driving was stopped around 1 a.m. near Mill Avenue and Baseline Road.
Police said the car was “weaving in the roadway” and that based on Winkle’s performance in field sobriety tests.
Authorities said he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.22 percent, nearly three times the state’s legal limit for drivers.
Winkle, 38, a Mesa native, has been on leave from his council duties since mid-May. Less than two weeks after his arrest, Winkle announced he was taking a break. The city council approved charging him with ethics failures in June.
He apologized to the council, Mayor John Giles and the citizens in his district.
“This will change my life,” Winkle said to the East Valley Tribune. “This time, I am seeking some professional help.”
Winkle had also been arrested for extreme DUI in 2008. That time he spent 45 days in jail, according to the Tribune.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
