A Texas councilwoman was arrested on Thursday night for driving while intoxicated after clubbing in downtown San Antonio.
Ivalis Meza Gonzalez, aged 43, was chosen to be the councilwoman for San Antonio City Council District Eight during the runoff election held on June 6. Less than two months after her election, she has been arrested for driving under the influence, as reported by KSAT.
Surveillance footage captured the embarrassing scene where the politician was required to stand before a booking agent while restrained with leg irons.
The arrest warrant details that a San Antonio police officer initiated a traffic stop on Gonzalez’s vehicle after observing her driving at a noticeably slower pace than other cars on the road.
She was allegedly unable to remain in a single lane along I-10 at Hildebrand Road.
When the officer asked if she had been drinking, Gonzalez denied consuming alcohol, the warrant says.
However, Gonzalez did admit that she was coming from Centre Club – a ritzy social club located in ‘the prestigious’ Weston Centre in San Antonio. Memberships are estimated to cost $175 per month, depending on various factors.
During a sobriety test, the warrant said that Gonzalez had ‘watery, glossy eyes’ and had a ‘moderate odor of intoxicants.’
Ivalis Meza Gonzalez, 43, was elected to become San Antonio City Council District Eight Councilwoman in the June 6 runoff. Now, less than two months later, she is in jail for drunk driving
Security footage shows the humiliating moment (pictured here) the lawmaker had to stand up before a booking agent while being weighed down by leg irons on her ankles
San Antonio police officers claimed Gonzalez was also slurring her words.
The officers said Gonzalez failed every component of the sobriety test, reporting six of six clues present during the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, seven of eight clues on the walk-and-turn test, including taking 22 steps instead of the instructed nine, and two of four clues on the one-leg stand test, NEWS4SA reported.
After being put in custody, an officer asked Gonzalez for a sample of her breath or blood, but she refused.
Officers were then compelled to seek a warrant, on the grounds that the lawmaker was attempting to conceal evidence of intoxication.
Court records say Gonzalez was booked into the Bexar County jail on a $1,000 bond on Friday morning.
According to Gonzalez’s LinkedIn, she studied at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and then got her law degree from St. Mary’s University.
Prior to becoming the councilwoman for District Eight, she was the Chief of Staff for Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who served as San Antonio’s mayor until 2025 and has since been replaced by Gina Ortiz Jones.
Gonzalez is the third San Antonio City Council member to be arrested for driving while intoxicated in the past three years.
Gonzalez admitted that she was coming from Centre Club – a sceney social club located in ‘the prestigious’ Weston Centre in San Antonio
The officers said Gonzalez failed every component of the sobriety test
On November 6, 2022, Clayton Perry, then the District 10 Councilman, was arrested after allegedly drinking 14 drinks in a four-hour period at a North Side bar.
He then drove into another car at an intersection, fled the scene and was found later in his backyard.
Then, on December 29, 2023, the current District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte was pulled over by San Antonio police after, they said, he was speeding and didn’t properly signal a lane change.
Whyte admitted to having consumed three alcoholic beverages, and was arrested after taking field sobriety tests.
He was arrested on a DWI charge and later pleaded guilty to a non-DWI charge.
