City Councilman Faces Drunk Driving, Weed Charges After Arrest
FLINT (WWJ/AP) - A Flint city councilman arrested for suspicion of drunken driving and marijuana possession has been formally charged.
Eric Mays, 55, was charged Friday with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, possession of marijuana, no proof of insurance and refusal to be fingerprinted. The charges all are misdemeanors.
Mays' attorney Frank Manley told the Flint Journal that his client plans to take responsibility for his actions, but "the way this case is being handled is far more political than judicial."
"We look forward to our day in court," Manley said.
Mays has resisted calls to step down following his Nov. 30 arrest on I-475 in Genesee Township. According to police, Mays had been traveling north in the freeway's southbound lanes on four flat tires. Mays was trying to change a flat when police found him around 2:50 a.m.
Police Chief James Tolbert previously told The Flint Journal that Mays' blood alcohol content exceeded the legal limit of 0.08 by at least 25 percent, but he was unsure on the exact reading.
Voters on Nov. 5 elected Mays, who pleaded guilty to felonious assault in 1987 and served a year of probation. In that incident, Mays has said a man was threatening his life before Mays threatened him with a gun.
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