Inglewood Councilman Arrested on Suspicion of Drunk Driving

Inglewood City Councilman Garland Hardeman, 40, was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving just hours after leaving a council meeting, police said.

Hawthorne police officers stopped Hardeman at 1:15 a.m. Wednesday because he nearly ran a red light, stopping in the middle of the intersection of Doty Avenue and Imperial Highway, said police Lt. Arvid Krueger.

Officers said they smelled alcohol on Hardeman’s breath and asked him to take a sobriety test, officials said. Hardeman, a former Los Angeles police officer, refused and was taken into custody, Krueger said.

Hardeman was taken to the Hawthorne police station where he later agreed to take a blood test to determine his blood-alcohol level.

He was released just after 5 a.m. Wednesday. Test results will be available in two or three weeks, police said.

“I am innocent, and when they get the results back from the test they will find that out,” Hardeman said. “I have my suspicions as to why those officers stopped me, but I’m not going to get into that now.”

A passenger in Hardeman’s car, Elsa Ontiveros, 26, was later arrested at her Inglewood home when it was discovered that she was wanted for a parole violation. She was turned over to state probation officials.

Ontiveros was paroled Jan. 2, from the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla where she had served seven months for cocaine possession, said a Department of Corrections official. Hardeman said Ontiveros was a constituent from his district who asked for a ride home. The councilman, who is serving his second term, is scheduled to be arraigned April 20 in Inglewood Municipal Court.