Over four months after his drunk driving arrest in Independence Township, Road Commission for Oakland County Board Chairman Rudy Lozano plead guilty on Feb. 10 to driving his vehicle while impaired.
Lozano, 62, made the plea during the pretrial in 52-2 District Court before Judge Kelley Kostin. Sentencing is set for March 8 at 9 a.m. before Kostin.
‘The bottom line is I screwed up. I admitted I screwed up and didn’t ask for anything,? said Lozano. ‘Looking at all the mitigating circumstances? and the fact remains I shouldn’t have been driving.?
The plea brings the case, which was originally arraigned on Nov. 9, one step closer to concluding following an initial adjournment of the pretrial hearing this past December.
The pretrial adjournment came on Dec. 9 when Lozano’s defense requested time to file a motion, said Assistant Prosecutor Mathew Funke from Lapeer.
Funke was brought in to handle the case to avoid any potential conflict of interest.
On Jan. 12, the defense filed that motion for an evidentiary hearing, according to Funke.
‘We didn’t feel there was any evidence to grant the motion,? said Funke.
At the evidentiary hearing held before Judge Kostin on Jan. 20, a defense request to suppress the evidence due to the claims there was no reason to pull Lozano and his vehicle over was denied, said Funke.
The operating while intoxicated charges stem from Lozano’s Oct. 7 arrest after police pulled him over near his home on Dixie Highway near Northcrest Drive shortly after midnight.
Police received a complaint from the Clarkston Ambulatory Care Center reporting a subject suspected of being intoxicated leaving the area. Someone matching the description was seen getting into a vehicle.
According to police reports, after the vehicle was pulled over, Lozano failed field sobriety tests. Subsequent breath tests revealed his blood alcohol level to be .24 and .23, respectively.
As reported previously in The Clarkston News, Lozano spent part of the night he was arrested socializing at Deer Lake Athletic Club in Clarkston. After returning home, Lozano stated he slipped on loose floor tiles cutting his head. Unable to stop the bleeding, Lozano drove to the medical clinic on Dixie Highway.
As stated in police reports, workers notified police when Lozano left the medical center, refusing offers to arrange of alternate transportation.