Allen West, the former Chairman of the Texas Republican Party and Republican candidate for governor, announced his wife was arrested Friday for allegedly driving while intoxicated with their grandson in the car.
Just before 9 p.m. local time Friday, a Dallas Police Department officer stopped Angela West after she was suspected of driving under the influence, according to Fox News. After pulling her over, the officer performed a sobriety test and took Angela into custody, charging her with “driving while intoxicated with a child under 15 years old,” the Dallas Police Department told Fox News. The gubernatorial candidate tweeted Saturday that Angela had been “released,” and thanked people for their “many messages with support and prayers.”
We are releasing violent criminals in Texas but arresting grandmas? pic.twitter.com/zkiFzsoJIt
— Allen West (@AllenWest) August 21, 2021
The West’s infant grandson Jackson was in the backseat of the vehicle at the time of the arrest, and police released him to one of the West’s daughters following the incident, Fox News reported.
In the video Allen posted on Twitter, he called the arrest “insidious.” He claimed to have spoken with others who went to dinner with his wife at PF Chang’s who alleged that she only drank “water and lemonade.” He also claimed that the Dallas Police Department did not allow him to see his wife or speak to a supervisor at the police department about Angela’s arrest. (RELATED: Allen West Announces Run For Texas Governor In A Challenge To Greg Abbott)
“The thing that upsets me the most is that they [Dallas police] took my wife, arrested her, brought her to jail and left my grandson with two Dallas police officers,” West went on to say in the video. “Luckily, they were able to get in contact with our youngest daughter, Austin, who was able to go and pick up Jackson from two police officers on the side of the road. This is crap. You know, I support the thin blue line, but this is insidious.”
— Allen West (@AllenWest) August 22, 2021
The gubernatorial candidate followed up his Saturday video with a Sunday tweet of the alleged PF Chang’s receipt, which shows that no alcohol had been ordered at dinner.
1/ From our daughter, Austen:
“Good afternoon. My name is Austen Brianna Durton. I am the youngest daughter of Allen and Angela West. pic.twitter.com/cqNALceqMP
— Allen West (@AllenWest) August 22, 2021
Allen also posted a thread apparently written by his daughter Austen Brianna Durton regarding her mother’s arrest Sunday. “My mom was wrongfully imprisoned. My father, sister, and the rest of my family lost sleep over my mom being in there,” Durton claimed, according to Allen’s Twitter account. “My mom puts her grandson above everybody at this point,” she added, and attested that “At no point would my mom ever do anything to endanger him.”