Chapel Hill Town Councilman Lee Storrow pleads guilty to DWI

Chapel Hill Town Councilman Lee Storrow pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving while impaired in Orange County District Court on Thursday morning.

During this first court appearance, a second misdemeanor charge of speeding 63 in a 35 mph zone was dismissed.

Storrow was arrested about 1:20 a.m. on Aug. 26 for speeding near the intersection of Municipal Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, according to Chapel Hill police reports.

After pulling him over, the police officer came to suspect Storrow was impaired.

Storrow willingly submitted a breath sample that showed a blood alcohol content of .16 — twice the legal limit for impaired driving in North Carolina.

He was released from the police station by a magistrate at 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 26 with a written promise to appear in court Thursday, according to the arrest report.

Court records show Storrow’s license was civilly revoked for 30 days.

“I am deeply sorry for my wrong decision,” Storrow said in a statement. “Today’s court case was one small step of many to take responsibility for my actions. I let my community down and endangered the lives and health of myself and others, and this will never happen again.”

Storrow, 26, the youngest member of the council, is running for re-election in November.

The UNC class of 2011 alumnus is serving his first term on the council.

Marcus Hill, a Durham-based attorney with experience in DWI cases, said this type of case deals with several interesting and unique laws.

Hill, who is not involved in Storrow’s case, said the severity of a DWI sentencing is influenced by mitigating, aggravating and grossly aggravating factors.

He said that in order to determine the punishment for a DWI, the judge weighs factors like prior offenses, reckless driving, blood alcohol content and whether an alcohol assessment course is completed.

Bill Massengale, Storrow’s lawyer, said Storrow’s sentencing was pushed back to Nov. 17 to give Storrow time to complete an alcohol assessment course.

The course will be a mitigating factor in the judge’s sentencing, Massengale said.

He said the speeding charge was dismissed because it would have been an aggravating factor in the judge’s decision.

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