Westminster City Councilman Andy Quach, a convicted drunken driver, was arrested on suspicion of DUI after hitting a fenced apartment complex entryway, the CHP said Monday.
Quach, 42, was in his 2003 Mercedes-Benz when he hit the fence at 10 a.m. in the 15000 block of Brookhurst Street in Westminster, the California Highway Patrol said in a statement.
Quach was arrested about 11:25 a.m. after police conducted a field sobriety test, the CHP said.
"We did our investigation and based on the totality of that we arrested him on suspicion of driving under the influence," CHP Officer Stacy Willits told City News Service.
No one was injured.
Quach was being held in lieu of $10,000 bail, according to Orange County Jail records.
His attorney Bart Kaspero believes it is still to early to say whether his client is guilty or not, but believes he is still popular with constituents.
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"The allegation is still fresh, so we don't know what is going to come out of it," Kaspero said, "But I think it's a testament to his popularity, to the loyalty of his voters, that they still went out of their way to vote him into office after that first incident."
Residents were shocked to upon hearing the news, with one already calling for his resignation.
"He should resign or even taken out of office. What kind of example is that leading, for a drunk driver, a DUI, like twice?" Orange County resident Kevin Tran said, "If I do that once my life is over. Here he's still in office, what does that say?"
Mayor of Westminster Tri Ta told NBC4 he was surprised and shocked to learn of the second arrest.
Quach pleaded guilty Sept. 2, 2009, to drunken driving and was put on three years of probation.
He was arrested in August 2009 after his Mercedes-Benz S550 sideswiped another car on McFadden Avenue in Westminster, then slammed into a cement wall with such force it knocked down an power pole.
When Quach pleaded guilty he admitted a sentencing enhancement of driving with a blood-alcohol level of more than .20.
Police said Quach's blood-alcohol level was .26 percent, more than three times the legal limit.
Quach was also sentenced to 10 days with a Caltrans crew and ordered to pay $2,000 in fines and fees and participate in a nine-month-long alcohol awareness program.
Quach was elected to the Westminster City Council in November 2002 and re-elected in 2006 and 2010, according to the city's website.
Quach’s family escaped communist-controlled Vietnam by boat to America in 1980.
He joined the U.S. Navy at age 20 and enlisted in the Naval Seabee Battalions as a heavy construction equipment operator stationed in Port Hueneme and Adak, Alaska.
