State Sen. Edgar Flores, a 39-year-old Democrat representing Clark County, was arrested early Friday on suspicion of driving under the influence after Las Vegas police say they found him asleep at a red traffic light with his vehicle running and the keys in the ignition.
Police said officers discovered Flores at about 4 a.m. at the intersection of Lamb and Lake Mead boulevards. According to police reports obtained by 8 News Now and media accounts, officers observed signs they described as consistent with impairment — droopy eyes, slowed speech, delayed responses and confusion — and detected a slight odor of alcohol on his breath.
According to the reports, Flores told officers he had consumed a 24-ounce Michelob beer around midnight at PT's Pub. Police say he refused a preliminary breath test at the scene and performed field sobriety tests "unsatisfactorily." He was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on a misdemeanor DUI and later released on his own recognizance.
Flores issued a statement to local television in which he said he "fully cooperated with law enforcement and voluntarily submitted to both a breathalyzer and a blood test at the station." He said the breathalyzer returned a 0.00 blood-alcohol reading and that he was "confident the blood test will confirm the same." Flores also expressed contrition, saying the incident was "100 percent his fault" and that he believes he was simply too tired to drive.
Prosecutors are awaiting the results of the blood test and could decide to drop or alter the DUI charge before Flores's scheduled court appearance in January, according to media reports. The arrest was recorded in police documents cited by 8 News Now and reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Flores, a Nevada native who studied at the University of Nevada and the William S. Boyd School of Law, worked as an immigration attorney before entering elected office. He was first elected to the Nevada Assembly in 2014 and won election to the Nevada Senate in November 2022. He has indicated plans to run again in 2026.
The arrest and ensuing media coverage prompted inquiries from local outlets. Daily Mail reported the incident and said it had reached out to Flores and Clark County police for comment. Flores is not scheduled to appear in court until January, when prosecutors may present formal charges dependent on the pending blood-test results.