GILROY
– The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office has
scheduled a March 1 arraignment for 49er quarterback and
much-celebrated Gilroy native Jeff Garcia, who was arrested
Wednesday on suspicion of drunk driving.
GILROY – The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office has scheduled a March 1 arraignment for 49er quarterback and much-celebrated Gilroy native Jeff Garcia, who was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of drunk driving.
Assuming the district attorney charges Garcia with a DUI, the three-time Pro Bowl selection can make a plea at his court appearance or ask to schedule a plea date. If Garcia pleads or is found guilty, he would face fines, a suspended license and probation that includes a treatment program.
At a press conference held roughly six hours after being released from the county jail in downtown San Jose, Garcia gave a brief but remorse-driven apology in front of print and television media at 49ers headquarters in Santa Clara.
“First of all, I regret that I am standing here in front of you in this type of situation. As a member of this community, I take on my responsibility as a role model very seriously,” Garcia said. “I understand the actions or the responsibilities that somebody in my position sets within this community. I’m extremely embarrassed for my family, for the San Francisco 49ers organization and for the Bay Area for having to put them through something like this.”
Garcia said he would take the matter “very seriously” and that he hoped it would not become a distraction to his teammates and the organization.
As genuinely distraught as Garcia looked and sounded, his carefully chosen words – he did not admit guilt – did not indicate how he will plea in this case.
Garcia cited “legal issues” as a reason for not discussing the details of the 1:50 a.m. arrest. He did not return phone calls from The Dispatch that were made to his parents and his personal assistant.
On Wednesday morninghis father, Bobby Garcia, said his son “was doing fine” and that this was his first DUI arrest.
San Jose State University police stopped Garcia along Third and San Carlos streets in downtown San Jose early Wednesday after they saw him commit traffic violations and drive erratically. SJSU spokeswoman Nancy Stake said Garcia ran a red light, failed to yield to oncoming traffic while making a left turn and weaved his vehicle in and out of traffic.
Test results aren’t public yet
Officers pulled over Garcia, who drove his white SUV into the Jack in the Box parking lot on San Carlos Street where he cooperated with police. Garcia admitted to drinking alcohol that night, Stake said.
Stake said Garcia failed a field sobriety test and a breathalyzer test, but university police refused to say what Garcia’s blood alcohol level was.
The police department’s press release stated, “Preliminary results indicate a blood-alcohol level in excess of the legal limit (.08 percent).”
Results from a blood test taken at the Santa Clara County jail in downtown San Jose, where Garcia was booked and held, will be released in about two weeks, university police said.
Garcia spent some of the evening Tuesday with friends at the San Jose Sharks hockey game, where he waved to the crowd when his face appeared on the overhead video scoreboard. After the game, the quarterback spent time at a downtown beer house, the Mission Ale House, at Third and Santa Clara streets.
Mission Ale House Manager Dan Doherty said Garcia, a regular customer, “seemed perfectly normal” to his staff, which is trained to refuse service to rowdy drinkers.
“Jeff is always a low-key customer. He’s really approachable,” Doherty said.
The manager of the popular watering hole said he did not believe reports from people claiming to have witnessed him acting drunk. Television news reports interviewed one man Wednesday who said he tried, to no avail, to stop Garcia from driving.
“I hear a lot of people saying things, and it’s really unfair,” Doherty said.
Garcia lives in San Jose and attended San Jose State, where he was inducted into the school’s hall of fame last year. The former Canadian Football League star has been the 49ers’ starting quarterback since Steve Young retired after the 1999 season.
The DUI comes at a bad time for Garcia professionally. Garcia is due to make nearly $10 million with the 49ers next season, but the team is expected to renegotiate his contract in the off-season to lessen its impact on the salary cap. San Francisco coach Dennis Erickson, who was arrested for drunken driving while coaching in Seattle in 1995, was supportive of his quarterback.
“Jeff’s a tremendous guy and does a lot of things in the community and for the 49ers,” Erickson told KGO Radio. “We’ll deal with it as time goes on. … I’m concerned about Jeff right now and just trying to find out what happened.”
A local ripple effect
For the sports world, Garcia’s drunken driving arrest Wednesday may be just another indiscretion by a star athlete. But in Gilroy, Garcia’s run-in with the law is carrying ripples that could extend from local charity to politics.
With the entire Bay Area reconsidering his formerly clean image, using Garcia as a charity event draw and as a face on a community cause may come with a little tarnish.
Gavilan College President Steve Kinsella acknowledged that recent efforts by an election committee to contact Garcia – Gavilan’s most famous graduate – are on hold. The school is trying to float a $108 million bond on the March 2 ballot and its Yes on Measure E committee wanted to use Garcia as a spokesman, Kinsella said.
“I’m not sure how (the arrest) affects this,” Kinsella said. “It’s not a decision I can make individually. The committee will have to discuss this.”
In December, Gilroy Unified School District talked about using Garcia as the face on its drive to increase attendance. Public schools receive their funding based on how many children go to school regularly. Using words of advice from Garcia to encourage kids to go to school could hold an uncomfortable irony for the district.
Superintendent Edwin Diaz said discussions about using Garcia as the attendance drive spokesman was only in preliminary stages. Diaz said the district has no intention of distancing itself from their graduate.
“As far as I’m concerned, Jeff is still a role model for a lot of kids and he’s demonstrated that he’s a positive role model,” Diaz said. “A role model doesn’t always have to be perfect. I’m proud of the way Jeff accepted responsibility. He’s contributed so much to this community, I hope one event doesn’t overshadow all that he’s done.”
Frank Filice, chairman of the Jeff Garcia Open, says the annual golf tournament which raises thousands of dollars to local athletic organizations will “go on as usual May 14” as far as he knows.
“I haven’t heard anything about repercussions. No one is saying ‘This is going to hurt your tournament,’ ” Filice said regarding the event which kicks off in four months.
Gavilan College Athletic Director Ron Hannon declined to comment on anything related to Garcia’s arrest. Gavilan College athletics is a major recipient of the golf tournament proceeds, an annual show of gratefulness from Garcia who played quarterback for the Rams years ago under the tutelage of his father Bobby Garcia.
Many spoke fondly of Garcia Wednesday and some believe the mild-mannered 33-year-old’s arrest is simply a media football for his native Bay Area.
“I think the media made a big deal about it, but nobody was saying anything bad about him (at the county office),” District 1 Supervisor Don Gage said.
