Auditor arrested by CHP

Babich briefly jailed on suspicion of DUI

BABICH

Babich said Monday she was arrested Thursday night while she waited for a family member in the emergency room at Sutter Coast Hospital.

Hospital staff contacted law enforcement officials and reported an intoxicated person, said Officer Larry Depee of the California Highway Patrol.

Depee said CHP officer Rick Borges made contact with Babich and after she performed poorly on a sobriety test placed her under arrest.

“I wasn’t driving,” Babich said Monday. “I wasn’t even in my car. I was in the sitting area of the hospital waiting for a family member in the ER.”

According to Depee, that doesn’t matter.

“If the officer has probable cause to believe that a suspect was driving, they can make an arrest,” he said.

Babich was booked in the Del Norte County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence and cruelty to a child because she allegedly transported a family member to the hospital while intoxicated, Depee said.

Babich was released on her own recognizance after spending four hours in jail, officials said Monday.

District Attorney Mike Riese said no court date has been scheduled because he has not received the CHP police report and blood toxicology screen yet.

“In cases where the suspect is not in custody it can take up to 10 days to get the police report,” Riese said Monday. “Before anything can happen I need to decide if this office has any conflict of interest, because we work with Christie every day.”

Riese said that if he decides the DA’s Office does have a conflict of interest, the case would be forwarded to the California Attorney General’s Office for prosecution.

“I don’t foresee a conflict,” Riese said. “If there isn’t, it will be tried like any other DUI case.”

Babich is one of the highest-ranking county officials and is instrumental in preparing county budgets.

She has served as county auditor for more than a decade, and her current four-year term expires this year.