Mayor Albert Huang announced Tuesday that he would resign his position as mayor and City Council member, four days after being arrested over a late-night altercation with a woman outside a restaurant.
At a news conference at his attorney's office, Huang said the arrest and subsequent media attention "has greatly affected my family."
"I want to devote 100 percent of my efforts to protect my family and to clear my name in court," he said. "This will certainly affect my future performance of the duties and performance of the duties and responsibilities as the mayor for the great city of San Gabriel."
Huang, 35, was arrested around 1 a.m. Friday after an argument that began inside the New Taste Dumpling House, 301 W. Valley Blvd., allegedly turned violent outside.
The restaurant owner told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune the 33-year-old woman, whose name was withheld, threw a plate of dumplings on the mayor about 1 a.m. and he responded by throwing some vinegar at her.
The woman then went to a nearby ATM and returned with some cash, which Huang tried to take from her, Bao Gang Li told the newspaper. About 20 people were in the restaurant, he said.
When the couple left, Huang allegedly took the woman's purse and car keys and tried to drive off, but she climbed onto the driver's-side running board and clung to Huang's sport utility vehicle as it reached about 45 mph on Prospect Avenue, according to police.
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The SUV came to a stop near Newby Avenue.
Huang was booked, then posted $100,000 bail at about 10:30 a.m. Friday, according to inmate records.
Huang previously called the dispute a misunderstanding among friends. He was booked on suspicion of felony robbery, felony assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and misdemeanor battery, San Gabriel police Lt. Ariel Duran said.
Huang, a native of Taipei, Taiwan, came to California with his family at age 9. By age 25, he had started three companies -- Richmond Development of Pasadena, R&Y Construction and an architectural firm, Studio R.
He was appointed to the City Council in 2006 when Mayor Chi Mui died, elected to the council the next year, then elected mayor in March.
