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(Brea, Oct. 20, 2016, 4:15 PM) — The City of Brea’s appointed Treasurer Rick Rios was arrested for driving under the influence after being involved in a hit-and-run accident last Friday night, October 14. He is currently running for election to the Treasurer’s position against George Ullrich. Early voting for the general election has, of course, already begun.
UPDATE, 5:55 PM.: This story has now been confirmed by Lieut. Darrin Devereux of the Brea Police Department, returning a call at my request. On Friday night at around 11:45 p.m., police received a call from the 100 block of West Juniper that a white SUV had collided with parked cars in a non-injury accident and then left the area. He stated that his information was that Rios was not arrested at his home, but when he his SUV returned to the area. Police detected signs of alcohol intoxication, gave him a field sobriety test, and arrested him for both hit-and-run and driving while intoxicated.
(1) The Basics
Here’s what I know so far: Rios’s car hit two parked cars — which I verified in an interview at their home belonged to a mother and her son — on Juniper Street near its intersection with Brea Blvd. (Presuming that the cars were on his right when he hit them, he would have just turned off of Brea Blvd. onto Juniper and into a housing tract – one where I happen to live.) I have no indication that anyone was injured.
Rios fled the scene, but a witness was able to identify his car. An officer located the car (it’s unclear whether the witness tipped him off) and located Rios at home. [strikeouts indicate revisions after Brea PD comment] Rios was found at his home, given a field sobriety test, and then arrested, booked, and later released with a citation.
(2) Effects Upon the Race
Let’s just say that if Rios — most closely associated with Councilmember Steve Vargas — is still elected Treasurer right after an alcohol-addled hit-and-run, then something is very very wrong with Brea politics. Unfortunately, something IS very wrong with Brea politics — we’ll cover this when we discuss Measure K, the school bond measure — but those who could possibly exert influence on behalf of their misbegotten candidate hopefully don’t have that kind of pull. We shall see how the campaign continues. (Taking down some of of those topsail-sized signs might be a nice gesture about now.)
Meanwhile, based on this, OJB will endorse Ullrich (up until now I was in the “pox on them both” camp.) And we also call on Rios to drop out of the race, because that’s what you should do when you drunkenly smash into two (fortunately unoccupied!) cars after voting has already begun. I presume that neither Mayor Christine Marick nor Marty Simonoff , both current Council candidates, are going to support Rios after this — I may seek comment from them too.
Here we go again.
What is it with politcos and drunk driving?
Someone buy Brandman a round
Not funny. This is not a victimless crime.
Ooops. Im reminded of the Anaheim FD Captain who was the Mayor of Temecula who hit a car full of teenagers while DUI.
Brea Councilmember Steve Vargas sent out an email last night at 1:33 a.m. — which I think is GREAT, by the way! — endorsing four candidates and one Measure on the Brea ballot. This was either brazenly or unintentionally ill-timed, but in the interest of equal time, here is the relevant part:
This raises an issue in my mind — but that will appear in a separate post.
A bit of a correction to the above comment and a number of questions raised as a result:
I had thought, when I wrote that comment, that it was part of an email blast. After all, it contains a formal looking letter stating that it’s from the “Desk of Councilman Steven Vargas, City of Brea.” Yes, it appears to be addressed only to me, but that’s true of messages received from many bulk-mail programs. I could quite see why I’d have been on Vargas’s email list — but I’m on a lot of lists.
On re-inspection, though I noticed two things: (1) It came from Vargas’s own personal account, not from a campaign or PAC account, and (2) the endorsement letter itself was dated October 9, not October 20 or 21. So, this wasn’t an email blast from last night; it was a copy of a an email blast that Vargas had sent out about a week and a half earlier, and was personally sending to me as well last night.
I can’t figure out the message: is he reiterating his support for Rios? Is he acknowledging his earlier support, which he now intends to recant with a “My bad”? Why contact me at 1:30 a.m.. or at all?
I’m wondering if it might have anything to do with this story from last December’s OC Register, which shows that the relationship between Vargas and Rios was much deeper than I had understood. I found that story when, after reading Vargas’s email, I suddenly realized where it was that Rios may have gotten drunk.
Anybody know if there was an event last Friday night, the 14th, at the former Brea Veteran’s Club at 735 S. Brea Blvd? (My recollection is that there was.) If so, was it a fundraiser? If so, was it for the former occupants?
I only ask because, when one turns right out of the Club, one is about a tenth of a mile away from the corner of Brea and Juniper — and the entrance to the housing tract where I live (and where the accident occurred, and where I saw the police cars at the corner of Juniper and Walnut, a very short block west of Brea Blvd., at around midnight on Friday night.
I do want to write back to Vargas — but when I do I’ll have to ask him whether he was with Rios late Friday evening. Or, someone else in the local media can swoop in and take up the story; fine with me!
[Managing Editor’s Note: Some anonymous person wants us to know that Vern too has been convicted of Driving While Intoxicated, eight years ago. Consider it done! (Without the snottiness, though.)
I don’t think that people should be voting for either Vern OR for Rick Rios this year — that’s fair, right? — Greg]
Hey, this is what Uber and Taxi’s are for when having a night out for drinking. Don’t drink and drive while in Fullerton and Brea, or anywhere! Leave the driving to someone else. Being a politician should mean higher ethics not drunken ethics. But we know otherwise.