A Lorain council member and community activist was arrested early Saturday morning after an alleged drunken encounter with Lorain police.
Angel Arroyo Jr., 34, is facing charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace and obstructing official business, according to a Lorain police report.
Around 12:30 a.m., police were called to Jenee Drive after receiving multiple calls for an intoxicated man in a driveway who refused to leave.
When officers arrived, they found Arroyo, who claimed that his leg had been run over by a vehicle at Diso's Bistro on Oberlin Avenue. He showed police a scrape on his knee.
Police said, as Arroyo was talking, he was slurring his words and officers could smell a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath.
According to the police report, officers asked him how much he had to drink that night and he replied that he was not intoxicated.
His car was parked in the driveway of a home on Jenee Drive. Police asked him how he got there and he replied, "I did not drive." Police note in the report that there was no one else in the car and he was standing outside by himself.
Police spoke to a resident who lives in the area and is close friends with Arroyo. The friend told police that he and several other people went to Diso's Bistro that night to celebrate Arroyo's birthday.
Arroyo became heavily intoxicated and wanted to drive home, the friend said. He took the keys to prevent Arroyo from driving. That's when Arroyo jumped on the hood of his friend's car in an effort to get his keys back, the report states.
The friend said that's how he injured his knee. He told police Arroyo was never run over by a car.
According to the report, the friend handed the keys to Arroyo's wife and left.
The friend told police that Arroyo showed up at his house and kept coming up to his door and refused to leave.
The officer offered to give Arroyo a ride home but he refused and asked for an officer in charge to respond to the scene, according to the report.
Lorain police Sgt. Middlebrooks then responded.
Arroyo told the officers he wanted to drive home in his own vehicle. According to the report, police advised him not to do that, since he was intoxicated.
Sgt. Middlebrooks opened the passenger door of his police cruiser and told Arroyo to get in. Arroyo repeatedly refused and police said he kept repeating "A,B,C,D,1,2,3" over and over again to prove he was not intoxicated.
According to the police report, several residents who live in the area came outside to see what was going on. They told officers they called police because he kept coming up to their door and refused to leave their driveway.
Police said they tried to reason with Arroyo but he refused.
He started recording the interaction on his cell phone and told police it was "for his social media," according to the report.
Due to lack of cooperation and refusal to leave, police informed Arroyo they were arresting him for disorderly conduct and obstructing official business, the report states.
As the officer was placing Arroyo in handcuffs, police said he "began to pull away" in an "act of resistance." The officer ordered Arroyo to stop resisting but he continued, the report states.
With the assistance of another officer, they were able to put Arroyo in the back of the cruiser but Arroyo allegedly refused to scoot back and put his legs inside the vehicle.
The report states:
The only way we could get him inside the vehicle was to have Officer Schlitz physically pull Arroyo into the seat from the opposite door. Even once inside, Arroyo stiffened both legs out the door so that I could not close the door all the way.
Police said Arroyo the began to kick the windows of the police cruiser.
As the officer drove Arroyo to the jail, he continued to claim he did nothing wrong.
Once at the police station, the officer had to tell Arroyo to get out of the car several times before he complied, according to the report.
When he eventually got out, he pulled away in an attempt to get away, police said.
Then, inside the jail, Arroyo reportedly kicked the holding cell door, refusing to cooperate, according to the report.
Arroyo currently serves as the councilman of Lorain's sixth ward.
The mayor released the following statement to News 5:
Councilman Arroyo's arrest is unfortunate for the city and for him as a person. I sincerely hope he receives the help he needs and can move beyond this situation.
