By Jack Moran
The Register-Guard
PUBLISHED: 12:00 A.M., MAY 4
Springfield City Councilor Dave Ralston’s blood-alcohol content registered a tick below the so-called “legal limit” on the night of his intoxicated driving arrest, but authorities suspect he also ingested drugs that contributed to his alleged impairment, according to newly filed court documents.
A probable cause affidavit written by the Springfield police officer who arrested Ralston shortly before 3 a.m. on Feb. 10 states that a breath test measured the 57-year-old elected official’s blood-alcohol content at 0.07 percent.
Under Oregon law, it’s automatically illegal for anyone to drive with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent or greater. But suspects may still be convicted of intoxicated driving if they are found to have been mentally or physically affected by any amount or combination of drugs or alcohol.
Officer Joseph Burke’s report detailing Ralston’s arrest was filed this week in Lane County Circuit Court, when prosecutors formally charged the Springfield councilor with driving “under the influence of intoxicating liquor and/or controlled substances.” His arraignment is scheduled for May 20.
Ralston told police on the night of his arrest that he had downed three “scotch and rocks” drinks at a local tavern before getting behind the wheel of his Cadillac DeVille — and also acknowledged being an occasional marijuana smoker and a daily user of prescription methadone, Burke’s affidavit states.
Burke wrote that Ralston said he had last smoked pot “on the Super Bowl,” which was played one week before his arrest.
A second officer, Tom Speldrich, led Ralston through a series of tests after he was taken into custody. Speldrich concluded that the councilor was under the influence of alcohol and other, unspecified “controlled substances,” according to the affidavit.
Ralston could not be reached Friday for comment on his case, and it is unclear whether he has hired an attorney to represent him. In a February interview with The Register-Guard, he said he had been wrongfully arrested and vowed to contest the misdemeanor charge in court.
Ralston said at the time that a doctor had prescribed him “pain pills” because he suffers from fibromyalgia and other ailments.
Burke’s affidavit alleges that before being arrested, an angry Ralston argued with him and declared that he was a powerful city official, while also criticizing police for following people as they leave local bars.
Just prior to being taken into custody, Ralston “loudly asserted, ‘You don’t know who I am!’ ” and said he was responsible for making “budgets for the city,” Burke wrote.
Ralston also called Springfield Police Chief Jerry Smith from the scene to share his displeasure about having been stopped and allegedly harassed by Burke, the affidavit states.
Smith, who retired last week, did not intervene in the incident.
Burke, meanwhile, wrote that he told Ralston “his position with the city did not impress me and would not influence my decision making.”
Burke then led the councilor through a series of field sobriety tests — all of which Ralston failed, according to the affidavit.
Ralston was arrested after performing poorly on the tests, Burke wrote.
According to the affidavit, Burke began following Ralston’s Cadillac after seeing it pull away from the Whiskey River Ranch parking lot without first stopping behind the sidewalk. The car traveled between 32 and 34 mph in a 40-mph zone before it turned into a gas station parking lot at 42nd and Main streets, the affidavit states.
Ralston stopped at the fueling bay and got out of his car, and Burke approached him there. Ralston “became confrontational” after the officer told him that he’d seen the Cadillac leaving the tavern, and accused Burke of harassing him, according to the affidavit.
Burke wrote that Ralston’s face was “red and flushed,” “his eyes were bloodshot and watery,” and his speech was “periodically slurred” as he protested the officer’s assertion that he had been traveling well below the posted speed limit after leaving the bar, the affidavit states.
“There’s no way! That’s not true! That’s not true! I set my cruise control at 37! There’s no way!” Ralston told Burke, according to the affidavit.
Ralston phoned Smith after refusing Burke’s request to sit down in the car and after loudly asking the officer if he knew “what a big mistake” he was making, the affidavit states.
After being taken to jail, the councilor took the breath test that measured his blood-alcohol at .07 percent — a result that Burke wrote “was not consistent with Ralston’s level of impairment.”
Burke then asked Speldrich, a “trained drug recognition expert,” to lead Ralston through additional testing.
Speldrich determined Ralston was impaired by alcohol and other drugs, according to the affidavit.
Ralston voluntarily provided a urine sample to be tested for the presence of specific drugs. Those results have not been made public.
Ralston said in February that he spent about nine hours behind bars before his father posted bail on his behalf.
Ralston, a registered Republican, has served as the City Council’s Ward 4 representative for more than 12 years. He won re-election to a fourth term in May 2012.
It remains to be seen if Ralston’s arrest will have any impact on his political future.
But a prepared statement issued Friday afternoon by Springfield Mayor Christine Lundberg makes it clear that Ralston’s colleagues are not at all pleased with his criticism of the officers involved with his case.
“Since the events that led to the arrest of Councilor Dave Ralston, as Mayor I felt that it was important to clarify that the Council and I do not condone his actions or the statements he made about the Springfield Police Department,” Lundberg said. “Although all of the details of the incident involving Councilor Ralston are just becoming known, our experience has been that our police officers are doing an outstanding job ensuring that our community is safe and we support our police officers and the work they do.”