FAST FACTS:
  • Widener mayor charged with DWI
  • This is the second DWI charge against him
  • Police say he wouldn't stop until he got home

omari.fleming@wreg.com


(Widener,AR 7/27/2009) "Last time I saw him he left with a friend. So I can't say what he's doing. I'm not a magician I don't know what he's doing."

That's what Mayor Abrom Pitts' wife told us when we showed up at the couple's Widener, Arkansas home.

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But when we saw Mayor Pitts pull into his driveway minutes later, he was solo, behind the wheel of his city-issued truck.

According to the arrest ticket, for his most recent DWI on Friday, the mayor is not supposed to be driving.

When we confronted him about breaking the law he said, "I just left the. I know what I'm doing. I got a license."

In March of 2008...after his first DWI Mayor Pitts admitted he likes to take a sip or two on weekends.

Bud is his drink of choice. "I drinks. You understand that. I don't deny.

A state trooper says there was no denying Pitts had been drinking Friday night. An officer saw him swerve into a ditch off Highway 38 and says the mayor wouldn't pull over until he made it home.

According to the arrest report, Pitts almost fell when he hopped out of the city truck. The officer also noted that the smell of alcohol was strong and that Pitts' eyes were watery and he was swaying. The report also says Pitts admitted to drinking three Budweisers that night.

His blood alcohol level was .15 percent.

"It's a shame, a disgrace," says resident Margaret Hardimon.

Hardimon and others say the arrest is bad enough, but the fact that he apparently urinated in the squad car is downright disgusting.

"That's pathetic," says Evelyn Wilson. "Pampers get some."

When asked if he believes he has a problem, Pitts responded, "I have a problem with you coming here every time something happens with that who said that and who shot John. I'd rather you leave my property."

One city council member says they'll take up the issue of what to do with Mayor Pitts at their August meeting. Mayor Pitts is scheduled to appear in court July 30.