Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Affectionately Known as Uncle Omar

Uncle Onyango Obama

President Barack Obama's uncle was stopped on suspicion of drunken driving, told police he planned to arrange bail through the White House and was being held without bail on an immigration detainer, authorities said Monday.

Onyango Obama was arrested last week in Framingham, about 20 miles west of Boston, after police said he made a rolling stop through a stop sign and nearly caused a cruiser to strike his sport utility vehicle.

Police said that after being booked at the police station, Obama was asked whether he wanted to make a telephone call to arrange for bail.

"I think I will call the White House," he stated, according to a police report filed in Framingham District Court.

Police said Obama, who's originally from Kenya and is the half-brother of the president's late father, pleaded not guilty Friday and was being held without bail on a detainer from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a court document, ICE said he had an earlier deportation or removal order.

Framingham police said Obama was arrested Wednesday after he failed to stop completely at a stop sign and a police officer had to quickly apply his brakes to avoid hitting Obama's SUV.

Officer Val Krishtal said in a written report that Obama slurred his speech and became argumentative after he was told that he was being stopped because he had failed to fully stop and yield to traffic.

"I explained to him that I narrowly avoided striking his vehicle, and he told me that he did not hear my tires screeching so I was not being accurate," Krishtal said in the report.

Obama originally told Krishtal he had nothing to drink but later said he had had two beers, Krishtal wrote in the report.

Krishtal said Obama failed several sobriety tests and blew a reading of 0.14 percent on a blood-alcohol breath test, which is above the state's legal driving limit of 0.08 percent.

Source: Associated Press

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