UPDATE: Trustee Pérez to be Arraigned on DUI

COD Trustee Rubén AríAztlán Pérez now scheduled to be arraigned on DUI charge July 19

College of the Desert Trustee Rubén AríAztlán Pérez, 29, who represents Trustee Area 1, was scheduled to be arraigned June 20 on a misdemeanor drunken driving charge that stems from a Feb. 10 incident in La Quinta. 

The arraignment was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. in Dept. 2K at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Pérez was not present in the courtroom and no plea was entered. His arraignment has been rescheduled for July 19. He is being represented by Anastacio De La Cruz of Indio.

An arraignment, which is a defendant’s first appearance in court, is a proceeding at which a criminal defendant is formally advised of the criminal charges against him and may be asked to enter a plea to the charges.

Perez has apologized for his behavior and said he will work to do better. He did not return a request for comment for this story.

The second-term trustee has been the target of a now-stalled ethics probe.

As alleged in the complaint, the count shows the defendant’s BAC (blood alcohol content) of 0.256, which is more than three times the legal limit of .08%. You may read the complaint here.

Across the United States, the legal limit is .08%.

Officers of the La Quinta Police Department arrested Pérez at 12:49 a.m. at Avenue 52 and SilverRock Way, according to jail records.

Pérez was alone when the incident occurred, according to authorities. No other vehicles were involved. He refused to answer any questions, instead referring all of them to his attorney, according to authorities.

According to authorities familiar with the incident, Pérez was in the opposite lane of vehicle traffic flow, with his lights off and allegedly passed out. His blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit, according to those familiar with the incident.

With a BAC of .25 to 29, almost all aspects of your brain are severely impaired, according to the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University. You may have passed out by this point. Vomiting is likely and the chance of asphyxiation on your own vomit is greatly increased. If you haven’t passed out, the risk of personal injury is high because you have little to no physical control. You are emotionally numb.

Your BAC is determined primarily by how much alcohol you drank, the rate of consumption, your weight and your gender. Other influences include: other drugs in system, hydration level, food in the stomach, type of drink.