PORT ANGELES — A Clallam County commissioner who is running for re-election was booked into the Clallam County jail Tuesday night for investigation of driving under the influence — alcohol.
Commissioner William Wallace Peach, 67, of Beaver was arrested and booked into the Clallam County Jail at 10:35 p.m. and was released an hour later after posting $10,000 bail, according to the jail roster.
When asked at his office in the Clallam County Courthouse if he had anything to say on Wednesday, Peach said: “I don’t. It’s a legal issue.”
Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols wrote in an email that his office will not handle the case and that he handed it off to the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to avoid a conflict of interest.
The office of Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney James Kennedy said there are plans to make charges, but no court dates had been set.
Washington State Patrol spokeswoman Trooper Katherine Weatherwax said Clallam County deputies made the initial traffic stop on state Highway 113 after receiving two calls of an erratically driven vehicle.
The sheriff’s deputies called the State Patrol for backup. Once the troopers arrived, the deputies let the State Patrol take over because U.S. Highway 101 is their jurisdiction and the deputies had a conflict of interest, she said.
Peach currently is running for re-election Nov. 8 as county commissioner against Port Angeles City Councilman Mike French.
