SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio City Councilman Clayton Perry on Wednesday made his first public statement since sources confirmed he was involved in a hit-and-run crash.
“I was in a car crash on Sunday. I clearly hit my head and don’t really remember it,” Perry said in the statement. “The next morning, I went to the doctor and spent a day and a half at BAMC for treatment and observation. I’m very sorry for the hassle this is causing everyone and I’m fully cooperating with everyone to resolve it properly.”
Perry has been out of the public eye since Sunday’s incident. The District 10 councilman was not at a Veteran’s Day function he was originally expected to attend on Wednesday and was also a no-show at the council’s B-session.
A spokesman for Mayor Ron Nirenberg texted a statement to KSAT on Tuesday stating, “If the details in the police report regarding Sunday night are accurate, Councilman Perry should resign.”
Asked about Perry‘s statement Wednesday, Nirenberg said he had nothing to add.
Sources confirmed that Perry, 67, who has not been arrested, is the suspect in a hit-and-run Sunday night at Redland and Jones Maltsberger roads near his North Side home. A redacted police report lists the offense as failure to stop and give information in a crash with damages worth more than $200, a Class B Misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.
According to the report, the driver of a black Jeep Wrangler took a right-hand turn too wide and hit another vehicle waiting for the light, causing “major damage.” Though the driver of the Jeep took off, a witness reportedly followed it and told the other driver where it had stopped.
When an SAPD officer checked the location, he found Perry lying in his backyard, with a cut on his head, and smelling of alcohol. Perry denied having driven the car, though, and the officer left without testing his sobriety or arresting him.
The officer later spoke with the witness who described seeing an older white man get out of the driver’s side door while wearing similar clothes to what the officer had seen Perry wearing.
Based on his preliminary investigation, the officer wrote, “it was believed” Perry had been involved in the crash and had left the scene before giving his information to the other driver.
Without the ability to prove Perry was intoxicated while behind the wheel, the case will not be investigated as a DWI.