One of two Los Angeles City Council staff members arrested in separate weekend incidents for allegedly driving under the influence pleaded not guilty Thursday to two misdemeanor charges.
An April 20 pretrial hearing is scheduled for Fredy Ceja, 36, a spokesman for First District City Councilman Gil Cedillo. Ceja was arrested at 12:06 a.m. Saturday at Sixth and Spring streets in downtown Los Angeles. He was released on bond early Wednesday.
According to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, Ceja is charged with driving under the influence with a prior DUI conviction and driving with a blood- alcohol level exceeding 0.08 with a prior DUI conviction, both misdemeanors. Both charges include an enhancement of refusing to submit to a blood-alcohol test.
A Los Angeles Police Department source told the Los Angeles Times that Ceja’s car collided with a Metro bus.
Cedillo’s chief of staff, Arturo Chavez, said Ceja was cited for DUI during his off-work hours while using his personal vehicle, but declined to comment further, calling it a personnel matter.
Also on Saturday, Fredy Torres, 27, a field deputy for Eighth District Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, was arrested about 1:15 a.m. on suspicion misdemeanor DUI at 43rd Street and McKinley Avenue, according to the LAPD. He posted $15,000 bail and was released around noon that day, according to jail records.
Torres was driving a city-issued car when he was arrested, according to the councilman’s office.
Torres has been placed on leave, according to Harris-Dawson’s chief of staff, Solomon Rivera.
“As soon as we became aware of the incident involving Fredy Torres, Council member Harris-Dawson directed staff to reach out to LAPD and then the city Personnel Department to express his concern and commit our office’s full cooperation. We have placed Torres on leave while this matter is being investigated,” he said.
Records cited by The Times suggest Ceja and Torres may have had earlier brushes with law.
A man matching Ceja’s name and date of birth was arrested by the LAPD near the southbound 101 Freeway in December 2009 on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to jail records reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. He was later charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving, and he pleaded no contest in 2010 to reckless driving, according to court records. At a May 3, 2010, sentencing, he was given 36 months probation and 30 days in L.A. County Jail, according to court records.
In 2006, a man matching Ceja’s name and date of birth pleaded no contest to driving under the influence of alcohol and was sentenced to six days in L.A. County Jail, according to court records cited by The Times. In 2003, a man matching Ceja’s birth date and name pleaded no contest to driving under the influence of alcohol and was sentenced to a three-year probation term, the newspaper reported.
A man matching Torres’ name and date of birth was charged with public intoxication in 2009, but the charge was later dismissed, according to court records cited by The Times.
— Wire reports