TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Former Kern County Supervisor Pete Parra vowed to never drink again Thursday, two days after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Parra said he was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol on Highway 178 near Haley Street at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, and said tests showed he had a blood alcohol level of .09, just above the legal limit of .08.

The CHP said it doesn’t release the blood alcohol levels of people it arrests.

Parra continued to say he spent the night in the downtown jail and was released at about 6 a.m. the next day.

Parra said he had “a couple” of beers at a local restaurant at a 2 p.m. lunch, went to his office at Mercado Latino to do some work, and after that went to another restaurant and had another couple of beers. He said he was driving to his home in the northeast when he was pulled over.

Asked if he was intoxicated, Parra said: “According to the guidelines of the state of California, I was.”

“It’s just a very sad incident that happened. I don’t wish it to happen to anybody and I’m committed to it never happening again,” Parra, 66, said.

The CHP said officers responded to Edison Highway near Chamberlain Street by Mercado Latino after someone reported seeing a drunk driver. The vehicle described was a green GMC pickup westbound on Edison Highway.

Officers stopped the car, saw signs of intoxication in Parra and asked him to perform a series of field sobriety tests, which he couldn’t complete, according to the CHP. Parra was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol and booked into jail.

He was cooperative during the entire process, the CHP said.

Parra said he took a breathalyzer test during the stop that showed him over the legal limit to drive and, just as the CHP said, blood test results are pending.

CHP spokesman Robert Rodriguez said a man of Parra’s size — 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, according to the CHP news release that is based on his driver’s license information — would typically have to drink five to six 12-ounce beers in a two-hour period to get to a blood alcohol level of .08.

The CHP has not yet forwarded the Parra case to the Kern County District Attorney’s office for the filing of charges, said Supervising Deputy District Attorney Michael Yraceburn.

Yraceburn laid out the typical penalties for a first-time offender convicted of misdemeanor DUI with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit but under .2.

They include probation, 48 hours in jail — though those are usually served as work-release — fines and penalties between $1,100 and $3,500 and completion of an anti-drinking and driving program ranging from three to 12 months long, Yraceburn said.

The Department of Motor Vehicles typically suspends a driver’s license, though that can be reduced to license restrictions if the person does certain things, he said.

Parra said he doesn’t have a drinking problem but won’t drink again. He said he doesn’t need to go into rehabilitation to stop drinking.

He said he’s never been arrested before.

“I’ve never been arrested for anything,” Parra said. “My last ticket was 20 years ago.”

He said the CHP handled the incident very professionally and gave him no preferential treatment.

“They didn’t grant me any favors, nor did I ask for any,” Parra said.

Parra was first elected to represent the 5th District on the Kern County Board of Supervisors in 1996 and served until his ouster by Michael Rubio in 2004. From 1974 to 1996 he led the Employers Training Resource for Kern, Inyo and Mono Counties and also has served as a Bakersfield City School District trustee.

Parra’s daughter, Nicole Parra, represented parts of Kern County as the 30th District assemblywoman from from 2002 until she termed-out in 2008.

Pete Parra tried to re-enter politics in 2010 by running in the the 30th Assembly District Democratic primary, but lost to former Shafter City Councilwoman Fran Florez.

Parra said Thursday he’s out of elective politics for good.

The news of Parra’s arrest was “disappointing,” said Nancy Chaffin, spokeswoman for the safe driving program “A Life Interrupted” and The Californian’s vice president of administration and operations.

“It’s disappointing that someone who has put himself in a community leadership role would exercise such poor judgment,” she said. “Pete should have been committed to it never happening in the first place.”