Kansas City councilman and mayoral candidate Quinton Lucas arrested in Lawrence on suspicion of driving under the influence, but Lucas says there’s more to the story.
Lucas, 34, was booked for misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs at 1:58 a.m. according to Douglas County jail records, and released on a $750 bond.
Police said it was around 11:30 p.m. Thursday when they got a call of an unconscious man at 8th and Massachusetts. When officers responded, they found Lucas asleep in his car. It resulted in his arrest.
The KC councilman admits to drinking at a KU event but said he was actually behaving responsibly.
Lucas made a statement on his Facebook page Friday where he says he wasn’t driving when he was arrested.
“When I got to my car, I decided I was not prepared to safely drive home to Kansas City. I decided to behave responsibly and wait in my car until it was safe to drive. Apparently, while waiting, I dozed off. I never attempted to move or drive my car,” he said on Facebook.
But attorney Sean Pickett said even though Lucas was passed out and not driving, he still may have broken the law.
He said it’s not unusual that someone passes out in their car after drinking, but to avoid getting in trouble, you have to be careful about what you do.
“There’s case law that says turning the car on is operating the car even though it’s not moving,” he said. “So it can be as — the brake lights operating could be operating.”
Pickett said this will come down to a matter of law. We don’t have the answers to how Lucas was allegedly operating his car because Lawrence police haven’t released the police report at this time.
Lucas will appear in municipal court in November.
He was elected in 2015 to represent Kansas City’s Third District at-large and is one of at least nine mayoral candidates running to replace Mayor Sly James. The election is June 25, 2019.
–FOX4