State Rep. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) pleaded guilty Tuesday to operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a lower charge than she initially faced.
Warren was arrested on December 26 for drunk driving and had a blood alcohol content of 0.212, nearly three times the legal limit. As such, she faced charges under Michigan’s “super drunk” law, which was passed in 2010 and increases the penalties for drivers with a BAC of 0.17 or higher.
However, MLive reports that Warren pleaded guilty to one count of operating while intoxicated, a lower charge than operating while intoxicated with a BAC of 0.17 percent.
Video of the incident showed Warren crashing into a barrier and continuing to drive before officers pulled her over. She told the police officers that she had “two to three glasses of wine,” but failed a field sobriety test and initially refused to take a breathalyzer. She also claimed that she did not remember hitting the traffic barrier.
Warren posted a statement to her Facebook page earlier this month and said she “made a serious mistake and a series of bad decisions.”
“Fortunately, no one was hurt in the process. I have publicly apologized. I have taken responsibility. I am cooperating with the authorities. And I am taking steps to ensure it never happens again. I was wrong, and I am suffering the consequences of my behavior,” she said.
Warren then addressed the “extreme incivility” she has faced since the incident, claiming that she was “doxed,” “trolled,” and told to kill herself.
“This kind of commentary cannot be tolerated. While there are few concrete laws against hate speech and cyberbullying, there is increasing evidence of its negative and incendiary effects on our society. People who experience it are more likely to suffer anxiety and depression. In my own memory, in fact, one of my legislative colleagues – a beautiful but flawed human being like so many of us – did commit suicide following similar incidents to mine and similar attacks,” Warren continued.
She concluded her statement by saying she will regret her “actions of that night for the rest” of her life, but won’t be “bullied off of social media or into resigning.”
“To those who have expressed their disappointment and anger in civil ways, know that the depth of your feelings cannot match my own and I truly understand your perspective,” she said.
Warren was reelected to her third term in 2018 and won’t be eligible to serve another because of the state’s term limits.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun and The Ohio Star. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
