This story has been updated.
District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte was arrested and accused of driving while intoxicated late Friday night, according to court records.
Whyte was elected to the City Council in May, after the previous District 10 councilman, Clayton Perry, decided not to seek reelection following his own DWI arrest.
The San Antonio Police Department’s DWI unit stopped Whyte, around 11 p.m. on the North Side near Interstate 410 and U.S. Highway 281, according to SAPD.
A blood draw warrant said the officer’s radar caught Whyte driving 80 mph in a 65-mph zone, drifting back and forth in his lane, then using a turn signal after he’d already switched lanes.
The officer noted that Whyte had glossy, red eyes and his breath smelled of “intoxicants.” After being evaluated at the scene, Whyte was arrested and booked on a charge of driving while intoxicated.
After he was released on bail Saturday morning, Whyte told News 4, “I have never, ever gotten behind the wheel of a car when I’ve felt intoxicated, and the same was true last night.”
The blood draw warrant says Whyte eventually told the officer he’d had three beers Friday night, one at El Mirasol, one at Myron’s Prime Steakhouse and one at the Thirsty Horse Saloon. Whyte told the officer he’d had the last drink within the hour but was sober, according to the warrant.
“Even having two or three drinks over a five-hour time period is still not right,” Whyte said after his release. “You should never get behind the wheel of a car when you’ve had anything to drink at all, and so I take full ownership.”
If convicted, it would be Whyte’s first DWI offense, which is a Class B misdemeanor, according to SAPD.
Whyte, a business attorney, lives in the Marymont neighborhood with his wife and two young daughters.
He’s currently the lone conservative on the San Antonio City Council, favored for the role by an influential group of neighborhood leaders and former District 10 council members who helped clear the way for Whyte to succeed Perry last year.
“I take full ownership over my actions, and I apologize to the residents of District 10, my family, friends, counsel colleagues and anyone else who I have let down,” Whyte said in a statement Saturday afternoon.
Perry received 12 months of deferred adjudication after he was accused of fleeing the scene of Nov. 6, 2022, accident after driving while intoxicated. Political allies encouraged him not to seek reelection after police body camera footage later showed the councilman arguing incoherently with a police officer in his backyard the night of the incident.
In a field of seven candidates to replace Perry, Whyte won the seat outright with almost 58% of the vote. He previously sought the Republican nomination for Texas House District 121 when House Speaker Joe Straus retired in 2018. Whyte finished fifth in that race.
