Constable John Bonaventure defends himself after drunk driving arrest

CREATED Feb. 13, 2013

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Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- "I was not over the legal limit. I should not have been arrested."

That's what Las Vegas Constable John Bonaventura told a Review Journal reporter and photographer after he bailed out of jail on Wednesday.

But, he also told them two versions of what led to him being handcuffed.

The first version implied that he was sober when he drove home Tuesday night.

He said, "I was not drinking at my office."

Then he said he did imbibe at an event at the Stratosphere.

He said, "I might have. I think I had one or two drinks. But that was hours earlier, because it started at 4:30. I left the office at 8 o'clock."

A spokesman for Nevada Highway Patrol says Bonaventura failed a field sobriety test near U.S. 95 and Boulder Highway after a trooper pulled him over for speeding. Bonaventura said he did neither.

According to Bonaventura, "It's some kind of set up with... county administrators"

The Clark County Commission is considering an ordinance to get rid of Bonaventura, but it has nothing to do with his DUI.

Commission chair Steve Sisolak says, "The communication between the constable's office and the county has totally broken down."

Sisolak says the county has a laundry list of reasons to abolish Bonaventura's office. They include a profanity-laced reality t.v. pilot; hiring attorneys as deputies so he could pay their legal fees, and fights with constables in other jurisdictions.

Sisolak says, "No matter what we do or he does, there's just no communication. We're just at a roadblock, so to speak."

The proposal to end the Las Vegas Constable's office is on the agenda for next week's county commission meeting.