Last Updated on January 7, 2023 by CCAR Staff
Roger Clinton, the brother-in law of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, was released from jail Monday following his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol in Redondo Beach, authorities said.
Clinton, 59, half-brother of former President Bill Clinton, was arrested about 7:20 p.m. Sunday after a concerned citizen called the Redondo Beach Police Department to report a possible drunken driver headed south in an erratic manner on Pacific Coast Highway, Redondo Beach police Lt. Joe Hoffman said.
As the caller followed the vehicle and provided updates, police officers caught up with the car and pulled it over near Torrance Boulevard and Prospect Avenue.
Roger Clinton was evaluated for driving under the influence of alcohol, which included field sobriety tests, and was arrested, Hoffman said.
Clinton was booked at the Redondo Beach jail on suspicion of DUI. He refused all chemical testing, Hoffman said.
Passengers in Clinton’s car were released. None of the passengers were children.
Clinton, wearing a blue Los Angeles Clippers “Baron Davis” T-shirt and shorts, was released just before 10 a.m. Monday on $15,000 bail. He was accompanied by his attorney as he left the police station. Arraignment was set for Sept. 2 in the Torrance courthouse.
Roger Clinton has lived in the South Bay for decades, first in Redondo Beach and then Torrance. Voter registration records show he now lives in Lomita.
A phone message left on his answering machine was not returned.
His attorney, Walter Wiggins, said, “We’re not going to be making any comments.”
In 2001, Clinton was charged with DUI following an arrest in Hermosa Beach. He ultimately pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless driving and was sentenced to two years’ probation.
His attorney, Mark Geragos, at the time accused police of targeting Clinton because he was famous. City Prosecutor Kenneth Meersand said Clinton was treated like anyone with a first offense.
At the time, Clinton was ordered to stay away from The Lighthouse on Pier Plaza, where he had enjoyed beers with friends. After he was pulled over, Clinton registered blood-alcohol levels of 0.08 — the threshold for illegal driving — and 0.09. Police said he was driving on the wrong side of the road and bumping curbs.
Clinton went on CNN’s “Larry King Live” and denied being “legally drunk and driving.”
“I had had about two beers — two Coors Lights — maybe two,” he said. “(I) wasn’t driving erratically. That’s the biggest bunch of crap I ever heard.”
But on an audiotape recorded by an officer, Clinton admitted to drinking about four or five beers.
Before leaving office in 2001, President Bill Clinton pardoned his brother for drug charges years earlier.
The announcement of Roger Clinton’s arrest comes two days after Bill Clinton appeared on his wife’s behalf at a political rally in Torrance and a month after he spoke at commencement ceremonies at Loyola Marymount University in Westchester, where Roger Clinton’s son, Tyler, was graduating.
