WASHINGTON, Dec 23 (Reuters) – Republican U.S. Senator Mike
Crapo of Idaho was arrested early on Sunday in a Washington
suburb and charged with driving under the influence, police
said.
An officer stopped Crapo in Alexandria, Virginia, after
spotting a vehicle running a red traffic signal, city police
said in a statement.
The senior senator from Idaho was “arrested after failing
several field sobriety tests,” it said.
Crapo was alone in his own car. His blood alcohol content
was 0.11 percent, the statement said, above Virginia’s maximum
of 0.08 percent.
Crapo, 61, was taken into custody without incident and
released on an unsecured bond of $1,000. He is due to appear in
court on Jan. 4.
Crapo said in a statement that he was “deeply sorry” for the
incident.
“I made a mistake for which I apologize to my family, my
Idaho constituents and any others who have put their trust in
me,” he said.
“I accept total responsibility and will deal with whatever
penalty comes my way in this matter.”
Crapo has served in the U.S. Senate since 1999 after six
years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Idaho’s
2nd district. He was re-elected to the Senate in 2010.
Crapo is a Mormon who has been quoted in the press as saying
he abstains from drinking alcohol.
Known as a fiscal and social conservative, Crapo has a
lifetime score of 80 percent from the conservative Club for
Growth.
A graduate of Brigham Young University and Harvard Law
School, Crapo is a member of the Senate Banking Committee and
the chamber’s budget and finance panels.
He was a member of the so-called “Gang of Six” senators that
worked in 2011 toward a deficit-reduction deal that Congress
failed to adopt.
(Reporting By Nick Carey; Editing by Stacey Joyce)
