Tuttle Apologizes After Fight, Arrest : L.B. Councilman Held for Drunkenness, Admits Alcoholism

Councilman Edd Tuttle acknowledged Wednesday that a longstanding drinking problem led to his arrest earlier this week on suspicion of public drunkenness after a dispute with a group of teen-agers aboard a city bus.

Saying he takes “full blame for the incident,” Tuttle insisted he would not resign from the council because of the arrest.

“Personally, I think it might be easier to just say the heck with it and resign,” Tuttle said during an interview Wednesday at the North Long Beach camera shop he runs with his father. “But ultimately, I think that would be just trying to escape the problem and not dealing with it.”

Police said Tuttle was arrested and booked Monday after he got into a tussle with one of the youths and then refused to give police officers his address when they tried to drive him home.

Since last year, Tuttle has refused to make his home address and telephone number public, saying that he fears reprisals from the estranged husband of his girlfriend.

Tuttle, 38, was released from the city’s downtown police station after Mayor Ernie Kell posted $100 bail about four hours after the arrest late Monday afternoon.

‘Ethnic Slurs’

According to a police report, Tuttle used “numerous ethnic slurs” to antagonize the youths on the bus, spat on one of the teen-agers and told them he was a police officer.

When police arrived on the scene near Long Beach Boulevard and Bixby Road, Tuttle’s eyes were “bloodshot and watery, his speech was thick and slurred,” and the councilman’s breath and person “had the strong odor of alcohol,” the report stated.

Tuttle later refused to take either breath or blood tests to determine if he was intoxicated, the police report said.

The councilman said Wednesday that he has had a drinking problem for many years but has only recently attempted to come to grips with it.

“I’ve been drinking ever since I was in college,” Tuttle said. “I’ve tried to use the consumption of alcohol to handle my problems, but I think all the problems I’ve had in my life have been related to drinking. Alcohol brings out a lot of anger and aggression in me and aims it in the wrong direction.”

Tuttle said that in April he participated in a three-week alcohol treatment program at Memorial Medical Center of Long Beach and refrained from drinking for about three months.

“Then I had a whole myriad of problems dumped into my lap and I caved into the pressure and started drinking again,” Tuttle said.

Among those worries, Tuttle said, was an ongoing custody battle with his first wife over their two children. He said he and his second wife are getting a divorce.

‘A Very Serious Mistake’

Tuttle said he felt that despite “the personal embarrassment,” the outcome of the arrest would “be positive” because it made him realize he was making “a very serious mistake.”

“I regret it, I’m ashamed by it and extremely embarrassed,” Tuttle said. “I feel I owe all the people involved an apology, including the police, for conducting myself in a bad manner.”

Tuttle said he planned to seek professional counseling and continue with the Alcoholics Anonymous session he began in April.

Police on Tuesday morning refused to release the arrest report, saying it was not a public document. Chief Charles Ussery, however, released the report Tuesday afternoon after consulting with City Atty. Robert Parkin.

Ussery said the delay came because police needed “legal clarification” on whether the department could release the report and insisted the matter had been handled exactly as it would have been had Tuttle not been a council member.

“In this case, there was no favoritism shown at all, (we were) just complying with the law,” Ussery said.

Tuttle is to be arraigned in Long Beach Municipal Court Sept. 3. City Prosecutor John Vander Lans declined to say whether charges will be filed, saying the arrest is still under review.

Misdemeanors like public drunkenness carry a maximum six-month jail sentence and $500 fine, Vander Lans said. But he said that in public drunkenness cases, the defendant typically does not show up for the arraignment, the bail is forfeited and the case is dropped. Tuttle said he planned to forfeit the $100 bail.

Second Brush With Law

The episode marked the second time this year that Tuttle has had a brush with Long Beach police. In March, police filed a crime report after a bartender complained that Tuttle was displaying a badge and impersonating a police officer at a North Long Beach bar. Long Beach council members are given badges that are similar in appearance to police badges.

No charges were filed in the case. Tuttle said he had used his badge only in an effort to help a woman who had passed out in the bar. The councilman said he did not identify himself as a police officer and told investigators that he was willing to take a polygraph test to buttress his case.

In 1969 Tuttle was arrested for drunken driving. He said Wednesday that he pleaded guilty in that case to a reckless driving charge and paid a fine.

In the latest incident, Tuttle’s troubles began soon after the councilman boarded a Long Beach Transit bus about 5:15 p.m. Monday, the police report said.

According to the report, the following events occurred:

After a woman stepped onto the bus, a group of black youths whistled and made comments to her. Tuttle began shouting racial slurs and profanity at the youths. Witnesses said Tuttle told the youths he was a police officer.

One 17-year-old youth told police he squared off against Tuttle in the back of the bus. The pair argued for several minutes before Tuttle ordered the driver to stop the bus.

Scuffle With Youth

Witnesses said the councilman challenged the youth to fight. When the teen-ager refused, Tuttle spat on the youth and got off the bus, the report said. The teen-ager followed the councilman off the bus. When Tuttle--described as 6 feet, 5 inches tall and 250 pounds in the police report--shoved the youth, the teen-ager kicked the councilman in the groin.

The two scuffled briefly until the bus driver, who had already had his radio dispatcher call police, broke up the fight.

Officers arrived on the scene about 5:30 p.m. and, after talking to Tuttle and others on the bus, told the councilman that they believed he was under the influence of alcohol and had prompted the ruckus.

After persuading Tuttle to get into the patrol car, an officer said he attempted to drive Tuttle to his house. When Tuttle refused to reveal the address, he was told that “due to his position with the city and the need for him to be questioned by the station commander,” he would not be placed under arrest but would be driven downtown.

At the department’s downtown station, police attempted to get Tuttle to take a breath test to determine if he was intoxicated, but the councilman refused and demanded that he be given a blood test instead. But when officers drove him to Pacific Hospital, Tuttle balked at the blood test because of forms he was asked to sign. The forms are often used in drunken driving cases, and Tuttle told officers he feared he might be admitting to that offense by signing the documents.

After Tuttle refused to take the blood test, he “took a challenging stance” that led the officers to believe “they were going to have to fight with (Tuttle) to physically remove him from the hospital.” Eventually, however, the councilman was persuaded to leave without incident.

Booked After Refusal

Back at the police station, officers again asked Tuttle to take a breath test, and the councilman again refused, according to the report. Eventually, Deputy Chief Charles Clark joined in trying to talk Tuttle into taking the test. When Tuttle still refused, he was booked.

Tuttle said he could not clearly recall many of the events that led to his arrest. But he said that the argument with the teen-agers flared when “they were boisterous to me . . . I got carried away and lost control.”

“Basically, I just looked back at them in a disapproving manner,” he said. “Some comments were made to me and I was angered. And I made some comments back to them.”

The councilman said he invited one of the youths off the bus in order to “separate him from his three buddies and bring about some kind of resolution. I didn’t expect it to be a combative type thing.”

Tuttle said that he showed his council badge to the bus driver when he got on the bus, but said he did not identify himself to anyone as a police officer.

Kell said he bailed Tuttle out because the councilman is his friend. “My posting of a $100 bail bond is what I would have done for anyone I knew and this is what I did when Councilman Tuttle called and asked for my assistance,” Kell said in a written statement issued Tuesday.

Tuttle was first elected to his District 8 council seat in 1978. His seat will be up for reelection in 1988.