Politician of Unknown Party Affiliation Caught Driving Drunk With Mystery Woman Passed Out in Back Seat

The epidemic continues, with yet another story of a politician of of unknown party affiliation finding himself in trouble with the law.

What's disconcerting about this report is it's coming from the New York Post, which usually is reliable enough to identify the party of the perp.

State Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV, son of the legendary Harlem congressman, is in trouble with the law again after being busted on a DWI charge - with a mystery woman passed out drunk in the back seat.

Powell, who several years ago escaped a rape rap, was arrested after cops saw the car he was driving weaving in and out of northbound traffic along the Henry Hudson Parkway shortly before 2:30 a.m., prosecutors said.

The pol was pulled over near West 82nd Street, where cops who approached the four-door vehicle noticed that he had watery eyes, slurred speech and reeked of alcohol, according to a criminal complaint.

Sources said the unidentified woman who was passed out in the back seat was so drunk that she needed to be taken to St. Luke's Hospital.

Police advised Powell of his rights about taking a Breathalyzer test to determine how much alcohol was in his system. He refused to take the test.

"Why are you stopping me?" Powell asked cops, according to a prosecutor.

"I don't want to blow into this [Breathalyzer]. Why are you doing this?"

Powell then admitted he'd been drinking, the prosecutor said.

"I had a few drinks, but I'm not drunk," Powell allegedly said. "I can't be drunk because I've eaten something."

This isn't the first time Powell has been in some trouble.

But he's a Democrat, so apparently it's OK.

Powell, a divorced father, was once accused of raping a woman he had met at a Manhattan political fund-raiser in July 2003. The woman said she met the assemblyman and a friend of his days later in a bar, and invited them back to her nearby apartment.

She claimed the friend left and, soon after, Powell pounced, pulling off her panties and sexually attacking her, despite her cries of "No! No!"

A year later, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office announced it was not pursuing the charges.

An earlier rape complaint against Powell was dropped when his 19-year-old accuser, an Assembly intern, admitted the sex was consensual.

Sounds like quite the Lothario.

To be fair, the AP, which normally eschews party affiliation when it's a Democrat, does mention it here, although they wait untuil the 15th paragraph.

This report ignores his party. No surprise the New York Times fails to mention he's a Democrat.

The Daily News, with four reporters contributing to the story, also fails to identify his affiliation.

Instapundit and Hot Air link. Thanks!