SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police on Tuesday filed an at-large case of driving while intoxicated against District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry with the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office following an investigation into a hit-and-run on Nov. 6.
It will be up to the DA’s office to determine how to move forward in the case against Perry. It’s unclear when that decision would be made.
Details of at-large cases are not made available to the public until they are filed in court, according to the DA’s office.
The office issued the following statement Tuesday regarding the filing of the case:
“The San Antonio Police Department filed an at-large case of driving while intoxicated against Clayton Perry earlier today with the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office. This case, as well as the arrest charge of failure to stop and give information, are now being reviewed by prosecutors to determine if the cases can be proved beyond reasonable doubt. If accepted, an information will be filed and the case will be sent to court for prosecution. Details on at-large court filings are not publicly available until they have been filed in court. Because these cases are pending, we can make no further comment on them.”
A first-time DWI charge is considered a Class B Misdemeanor, which carries a maximum fine of $3,000 and a six-month jail sentence.
Perry’s previous charge
Perry is already facing a Class B misdemeanor charge for failure to stop and give information after a crash that resulted in damages to a vehicle over $200. An arraignment hearing is scheduled for Dec. 12.
He is suspected of crashing his Jeep Wrangler head-on into a Honda Civic before driving away from the scene.
Perry turned himself into the Bexar County Courthouse on Nov. 10 for the failure to stop and give information charge. He was released shortly after posting a $1,000 bond.
A redacted SAPD report obtained by KSAT Investigates states that the driver of a Honda Civic told police that a black Jeep Wrangler crashed head-on into them around 9:10 p.m. on Nov. 6 while they waited at a stoplight at Jones Maltsberger and Redland roads.
An officer was able to track down the Jeep thanks to a witness who followed the vehicle and then returned to the crash scene.
The SAPD officer 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, records show.
SAPD released the body camera video showing Perry’s encounter with police on Nov. 10.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg has said if details in the police report are true that Perry should resign. Perry told reporters on Nov. 10 that the mayor “can say what he wants.”
San Antonio City Council called a special meeting on Nov. 14 in which they issued Perry a vote of “no confidence,” scrapping calls for him to resign.
He was replaced by Mike Gallagher, who previously represented District 10 from 2014 to 2017, after Perry took a temporary leave of absence on Nov. 14.
Perry said he would use the time away from council to take “the appropriate measures as determined by medical professionals to ensure this will never, never happen again. I commit wholeheartedly to whatever course of action or rehabilitation they recommend.”
