The San Antonio Police Department on Thursday released body cam footage from the arrest of District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte. Earlier in the day, Mayor Ron Nirenberg announced a special meeting would take place this weekend for the city council to vote on censuring Whyte for his DWI charge.
Whyte’s DWI charge stems from a Dec. 29 arrest near the San Antonio Airport. SAPD body cam footage shows an officer pulling over Whyte into a parking lot of a PNC Bank off northeast Loop 410.
Whyte tells the officer he had three beers in total at three different locations on the video and took field sobriety tests administered by the officer. Whyte appears to clearly answer all of the officer’s questions and complete physical tasks, including reciting parts of the alphabet and counting backwards.
At one point, Whyte offers to walk home instead of driving the rest of the way. The officer tells Whyte he detects the presence of alcohol on his breath and arrests him a few minutes later.
An arresting document says Whyte refused a blood draw and a warrant was issued to obtain a sample. The results have not been released.
A Censure Vote and Committee Removal
Nirenberg removed Whyte from his council committees appointments which included the Audit, Workforce Development, and Public Safety Committees.
The mayor took the same approach when Whyte’s predecessor, former Councilman Clayton Perry, was involved in a hit-and-run DWI.
The council will also take the rare step of scheduling a censure vote against Whyte. The resolution posted on Friday shows references to Whyte’s regret and the assertion that driving while intoxicated will not be tolerated. It also notes that San Antonio has the highest DWI crashes per capita in Texas.
Update: The City of San Antonio has posted the censure resolution against Councilman Marc Whyte for his DWI charge.
— Joey Palacios - Texas Public Radio (@Joeycules) January 12, 2024
The language includes references to his apologies; that drinking and driving should not be tolerated; and SA having the highest DWI crashes per capita in Texas. pic.twitter.com/p4Cul6c6gd
The vote will take place on Sunday, during the MLK holiday weekend due to pre-scheduled travel by Nirenberg, who said the entire situation is disappointing.
“It’s a distraction no one disagrees with and in a city that has a scourge of driving while intoxicated," Nirenberg said. "It’s very sad, and so we’ve got to act accordingly and make sure that people know we hold ourselves to the highest standard.”
Whyte has indicated he will not resign from his position and has requested the legal system play out.
“That’s not going to affect my work for District 10 at all,” Whyte said. “Nothing gets voted on without it coming to the full council. I’m still going to go out there being a strong advocate for stopping all this violent crime we’ve got going on in this city, for fostering better economic opportunities for our citizens and improving the infrastructure in District 10 and around the city, so none of that is going to change.”
If passed, the censure would be the third against a council member in the last year. Perry and former District 1 Councilman Mario Bravo were both censured for different reasons in 2022.
