Jose 'Pepe' Diaz conveys concern about political career in DUI arrest video

'There goes my political career,' Miami-Dade County commissioner says

MIAMI – A Miami-Dade County commissioner pondered his political future as he was being arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in Key West last weekend.

Jose "Pepe" Diaz was arrested on a DUI charge after he was pulled over on his motorcycle Saturday night on South Roosevelt Boulevard.

Key West police body cameras captured Diaz's roadside field-sobriety test.

"There goes my political career," Diaz said at one point in the video.

The police report said Diaz was traveling 74 mph in a 30 mph zone. An officer wrote in the report that Diaz didn't use the kickstand for his motorcycle, causing it to fall over.

Police said Diaz's speech sounded slurred, his eyes were bloodshot and his breath smelled of alcohol.

Diaz told police he had a rum and Coke and one glass of champagne about three hours earlier, the report said.

In the video, Diaz told an officer that he was a county commissioner, albeit out of his jurisdiction. Then he revealed that he knew Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay.

"Call Rick," Diaz said. "He knows me."

"Who?" the officer asked.

"The sheriff," Diaz replied.

Police said Diaz refused multiple requests to take a breath test. He was taken to jail and later released on bond.

Diaz, who is in his fourth term as District 12 commissioner, apologized to the media outside his home Monday.

"This is something that I've learned from, and it's something I'll continue to learn from every day of my life," Diaz said.

Diaz is expected to appear before a Monroe County judge Oct. 5.

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