Long Beach : High L.B. Official Arrested

Deputy City Manager John Williams, third in command in the city’s administration, was arrested on a charge of drunk driving last week and is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Long Beach Municipal Court, police said.

Police stopped Williams, 52, in the 4200 block of Long Beach Boulevard about 9 p.m. on Dec. 29, according to Lt. Robert Kalowes of community relations.

Williams allegedly was driving erratically. He was booked into the local jail, and Police Chief Lawrence Binkley, who was called in by officers, drove him home since the two men live near each other, Kalowes said. Binkley has a policy requiring officers to call him any time a city administrator or police officer is arrested, Kalowes said.

Officers arrested a second city employee, Taufiq Rushdy, when he arrived while police were arresting Williams, Kalowes said. But the city prosecutor is not pursuing a drunk driving charge on Rushdy because officers did not see him driving, Kalowes said.