Alpharetta City Councilman Michael Cross was arrested Saturday night and charged with DUI after a witness notified police that Cross’ vehicle was weaving on the roadway.
An Alpharetta patrolman spotted Cross near Wills Road and reported observing a child looking out the back of the SUV, unrestrained in his seat.
The police report states that after he stopped the vehicle, the officer noticed a strong smell of alcohol. Cross declined to take a field sobriety test and a breath analyzer test at the scene, maintaining that police had no probable cause.
Under Georgia’s Implied Consent Law, drivers charged with DUI must consent to sobriety tests or risk the loss of their driver’s license for one year.
Cross, 38, was cited for DUI, endangering the life of a child, improper child restraint and failure to maintain lane. He was released on bond early Sunday.
Elected to the City Council in 2011, Cross formerly served as chair of the Alpharetta Downtown Development Authority and is a founding member of the board of directors of the Alpharetta Public Safety Foundation.
Cross, a lawyer, denies he was under the influence of alcohol and contests the charges, said his attorney Michael Penn.
“As an elected official for Alpharetta and a representative for the citizens of Alpharetta, he is quite apologetic that this even happened at all,” Penn said. “Michael’s a family guy, a church-going guy. … He’s not somebody who would endanger his child, himself or other people on the road.”
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