According to authorities, a California Democratic lawmaker who served as the head of the party’s influential Latino bloc until the end of last year was arrested Monday afternoon and charged with drunk driving.
State Senator Sabrina Cervantes, 37, vehemently denied being intoxicated, claiming that she was harassed by police and wrongly accused of driving while intoxicated.
In a statement released late Tuesday, Cervantes stated, “I want to be clear: I did nothing wrong. The lab results I sought in the hospital show conclusively I had no alcohol in my system. I expect this to be quickly and justly resolved.”
A Sacramento Police Department spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that Cervantes, who represents a district in inland Southern California and has served four terms in the state Assembly, was driving in downtown Sacramento on Monday when her car struck another vehicle a few blocks from the Capitol.
According to department spokesperson Officer Allison Smith, Cervantes got out of her car and was taken to a nearby hospital before police arrived at the scene of the collision at approximately 1:30 p.m. After meeting Cervantes at the hospital, police found that she was intoxicated and issued a misdemeanor citation. They let her go.
Cervantes said in the statement that she was in the emergency room seeking treatment after a big SUV t-boned her sedan. At the hospital, she was “accosted by Sacramento Police Department officers, [who] falsely accused of driving under the influence, and involuntarily detained for several hours.”
Cervantes added, “This ordeal was deeply distressing and left me even more shaken. As a Senator, wife, and mother, I hold myself to the highest standard and expect others that serve our communities to do the same.”
When asked if the senator has been charged with DUI, a representative for the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office did not answer. Additionally, a representative for state Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire refrained from commenting on the DUI citation right away. On Monday, the Senate was supposed to start voting on bills at 2:00 p.m.
The incident, which went unreported, is the latest in a long line of accusations against California lawmakers for allegedly driving while intoxicated in the so-called grid, which is the neighborhood around the Capitol.
After late-night fundraisers and other political events across the city, legislative leaders at various points organized car services to transport lawmakers home.
After his congressional campaign had already begun, now-Rep. Dave Min was arrested in Sacramento in May 2023 on suspicion of DUI. Min was later given a three-year probationary sentence; at the time of his arrest, he was a state senator.
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Both his primary and runoff opponents bombarded him with attack ads, and the California Highway Patrol made video of his arrest public.
Wendy Carrillo, a member of the Assembly at the time, was also arrested that year on suspicion of drunk driving after she collided with two parked cars in Los Angeles.
She later entered a no contest plea to DUI after the incident ruined her campaign for the Los Angeles City Council.
Cervantes is a member of the LGBTQ caucus and was the previous chair of the Legislative Latino Caucus, a powerful group of lawmakers.
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She joins a close-knit group of Inland Empire Democrats, which also includes former Assembly members Eduardo Garcia and Jose Medina, as well as Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez. Her sister, Clarissa, is a member of the Riverside City Council, and her father, Greg Cervantes, was the mayor of Coachella.
Two prior DUI charges against Clarissa Cervantes were used against her during her unsuccessful bid to replace her sister in the Assembly. Leticia Castillo, a Republican, won the seat by almost 600 votes.
