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Council member charged with DUI
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Pembroke Councilman Elijah Lewis Jr. was arrested early Sunday morning for allegedly driving under the influence.

It is Lewis' fourth DUI arrest and second in the last five years, according to the police report, which said he was traveling down Highway 280 in Pembroke on Sunday when an officer saw his car cross white line twice and the center line once.

Pembroke Police Officer William Kile pulled Lewis over.

When Kile approached the vehicle he reportedly saw a 12-pack of beer with some of the bottles missing in Lewis' backseat.

Kile’s report said he could smell alcohol coming from Lewis’ car and from his breath.

Lewis, who could not be reached for comment, was instructed to perform three sobriety tests and a breath test.

The report said Lewis was not able to successfully perform any of the sobriety tests and the results of his preliminary breath test showed his blood alcohol content was .15.

The legal limit in Georgia is .08.

Lewis was arrested for driving under the influence and failing to maintain his lane. While searching Lewis' vehicle Kile found an open bottle of gin under the passenger seat and a cup with beer in it on the floor between the driver and passenger seat, according to the police report.

At the Bryan County Jail Lewis was given another breath test and he blew a .164 on the first sample and a .156 on the second, the report said.

Pembroke Mayor Judy Cook said Monday afternoon she had not spoken to Lewis.

Cook said she wasn’t immediately sure how Lewis’ DUI would affect his position on the city council.

"We have an ethics board and right now we’re reviewing our policy," Cook said. "I need to refresh myself and will probably put (the policy) in the city council packet for Tuesday night’s meeting."

The city’s current code of ethics, which says public officials should act in a way so that the public will "have confidence in the integrity of its government" addresses Lewis’ situation in an indirect way, said Cook.

Cook said Lewis didn’t receive any special treatment from city police.

"They treated him just like anybody else," she said.

Cook said because of a conflict of interest Lewis’ case would go before a state court judge.

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