A 55-year-old LeClaire City Council member has pleaded not guilty to a charge of operating while intoxicated (OWI) after an incident on Sunday in LeClaire, according to court records.
Barry Long faces a serious-misdemeanor charge of OWI, court records show.
Shortly after 1:30 a.m. Sunday, an arrest affidavit shows a LeClaire Police officer saw a white Lincoln SUV at the LeClaire levee in the area of 199 Front St. “I observed that the vehicle had headlights and taillights activated and had the engine running,” the officer wrote in the affidavit.
“As I approached the vehicle, the driver’s window rolled down. I immediately smelled the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the vehicle,” the officer wrote in the affidavit. The officer spoke to Long, and told him the officer could smell alcohol, “as well as I could observe that his eyes were bloodshot and watery, and he was slurring his words,” the affidavit shows.
The affidavit says the officer then told Long he was not allowed to move the car. “I stated to him that when he wants to leave to call for a ride,” the officer alleges in the affidavit.
“Shortly after leaving the levee, I decided then that I would go back down there and tell (Long) and his passenger that I would be giving them a ride home,” the officer says in the affidavit. “As soon as I got back to the levee, I observed the white Lincoln coming in my direction to leave the levee. I stopped my car, and as the vehicle passed me, I observed (Long) in the driver’s seat.”
The officer, according to the affidavit, activated the squad car’s emergency lights to conduct a traffic stop, and again approached Long, asking him to step out of his SUV so the officer could conduct sobriety tests.
“The defendant had to be instructed several times to follow my finger and would only look straight ahead,” the officer wrote in the affidavit. “On the walk and turn test I observed 8 out of 8 clues. On the one leg stand test I observed 4 out of 4 clues.”
In a preliminary breath test, the officer alleges in the affidavit, Long blew a .235. Under Iowa law, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation, it is unlawful to drive with an alcohol concentration of .08 or more, so that is nearly three times the limit.
Long, who was released from custody on $1,000 bond, is set for arraignment April 4 in Scott County Court.
According to the official LeClaire website, Long’s term expires Dec. 31, 2025.
On Tuesday afternoon, Our Quad Cities News reached out to both Long and LeClaire Mayor Dennis Gerard for comment.
Gerard responded with this statement:
“On March 3rd, 2024, at approximately 0132hrs a LeClaire Police Officer conducted a traffic stop in the 100 blk of North Front Street in the City of LeClaire. As a result of the traffic stop LeClaire City Council Member Barry Long (55YOA) was arrested and charged with Operating While Intoxicated 1st offense. The Scott County Attorney’s Office will be responsible for the further disposition of this matter.”
As of 4:30 p.m., Our Quad Cities News has not received a response from Long.
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