A warrant has been issued for the arrest of San Antonio Councilman Clayton Perry for his suspected role in a hit-and-run crash that occurred Sunday night, court and law enforcement sources told KSAT on Thursday.
Perry turned himself in around 4 p.m. at the courthouse.
The arrest warrant was issued earlier in the day for failure to stop and give information after a crash that resulted in damages to a vehicle over $200. It’s a Class B Misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Sources tell KSAT Investigates that a search warrant was delivered at the District 10 Councilman’s home Wednesday night, targeting a 2018 black Jeep.
A copy of a search warrant was lodged between the front door and door frame at Perry‘s home Thursday afternoon.
No one answered the door when a KSAT reporter knocked.
Disturbance at Bill Miller Bar-B-Q drive-thru minutes before crash
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, a manager at a Bill Miller Bar-B-Q in the 2900 block of Thousand Oaks Drive called police at about 9:04 p.m. Sunday to report a man in a black Jeep Wrangler Rubicon who was slurring his speech and caused a disturbance in the drive-thru lane at the restaurant.
Perry was seen on surveillance video leaving the restaurant and the footage showed Perry was driving and the sole occupant of the Jeep, according to the warrant.
The incident happened about four minutes before the crash and about 1.4 miles from the crash scene, the warrant states.
A clerk at the restaurant who spoke to Perry told police that the driver of the Jeep was highly intoxicated, smelled like alcohol and his eyes were half-closed, the affidavit said.
The clerk said Perry never placed an order in the drive-thru lane and pulled up to the pickup window. The cashier then called her manager to take over the transaction. The manager told police that Perry didn’t understand that he didn’t place an order and tried to give the manager his car keys and wallet.
Head-on crash less than 2 miles away
A redacted SAPD report obtained by KSAT Investigates Monday states that the driver of a Honda Civic told police a black Jeep Wrangler crashed into them head-on around 9:10 p.m. Sunday while they waited at a stoplight at Jones Maltsberger and Redland roads.
According to the Civic driver, the Wrangler then left the scene, leaving behind the Civic, which the officer wrote sustained “major damage.”
A witness who saw the crash reportedly followed the Jeep to where it stopped and then returned to the crash scene to tell the driver of the Civic, who relayed the information to the responding officer.
The officer checked the location and found the Jeep parked in the driveway, where it appeared to have made contact with the garage door.
The SAPD officer also found Perry lying in his backyard moaning with a cut on his head and smelling of alcohol. Perry had trouble sitting up and when he did get up he was unsteady on his feet and was swaying, the affidavit said.
When the officer asked Perry some questions, the councilman had slurred speech and was either brief, evasive or uncooperative with his answers, the affidavit said.
Perry told the officer several times that he “had a good time” but didn’t elaborate what he meant or where he was at.
The councilman told the officer that he was not the driver of the Jeep, but when the officer told Perry that the vehicle was still running in the driveway, Perry replied, “Oh shit.”
The officer reported in the affidavit that Perry’s shorts were wet as if he had urinated on himself. His zipper was down, revealing his underwear.
Perry then tried to go back into his house, using his credit cards as if the door had a key-car reader.
An EMS unit was called to the councilman’s home but Perry was allowed to refuse medical care.
However, without the ability to prove Perry was intoxicated while behind the wheel — like a blood or breath test — the case will not be investigated as a DWI.
How Perry’s responded since
Perry has since admitted to being in a crash Sunday but said in a statement Wednesday that “I clearly hit my head and don’t really remember it.”
“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 said in a statement to KSAT.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg said Tuesday that Perry should resign if the details in the police report prove to be accurate.
The District 10 councilman was not at a Veterans Day function he was originally expected to attend on Wednesday and was also a no-show at the council’s B-session.
On Thursday, after he was magistrated, Perry addressed the media (full video at top of article.)
Perry said he that he was out of town when he heard that he had been served with a warrant and got back into town as soon as he could.
He would not comment about the crash and said that he “will trust in the (legal) process.”
“I got a lot of things to evaluate everything and see where I’m at.”
The councilman said that he has been praying a lot.
Perry said he wouldn’t comment on whether he will resign and added that Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s call for him to resign if he indeed was involved in the crash, the councilman said that the mayor “can say what he wants.”
The councilman reiterated that “he was sorry for the hassle” he has caused.
Perry has been on City Council since 2017. His current term is set to end next year.