Herald Writers

MARYSVILLE — A Marysville city councilman has been charged with drunken driving after being pulled over in Lake Stevens in December.

Rob Toyer, 35, declined to comment on the allegations. He referred questions to his attorney, David Jolly.

“I know that Rob has a lot of things to say privately about this, but we still need to sit down and discuss it,” Jolly said. “He’s taking this matter incredibly seriously.”

A Washington State Patrol sergeant reported seeing a man in a Subaru Legacy driving erratically as the car turned onto northbound Highway 9 from 92nd Ave. NE at Frontier Village. That was just after 1 a.m. Dec. 12.

“He entered the curve much too fast and drifted onto the clearly marked gore point that separates the curb from the northbound State Route main line,” said Sgt. Mark Francis, a spokesman for the State Patrol.

The Subaru reportedly was swerving in and out of the lane and crossed into the median, Francis said. The driver then braked and stopped on the highway before continuing northbound.

At that point, the sergeant turned on his emergency lights and pulled over the Subaru near the intersection with Highway 204.

As the sergeant approached the car, he saw Toyer at the wheel. He was putting a piece of gum in his mouth and apparently dropped a second piece on the floorboard, Francis said.

“It took considerable effort for him to get the window down,” Francis said.

The sergeant wrote in his report that Toyer “appeared completely out of it,” Francis said. “He swayed to his left and right while seated in the driver’s seat.”

Toyer reportedly said he didn’t remember coming to a stop on the highway. He also allegedly could not remove his driver’s license from his wallet. At that point, Toyer was asked to get out of the car. He was described as unsteady on his feet.

“He had a hard time holding his head up,” Francis said. “His breath reeked of alcohol.”

When asked how much he had to drink, Toyer reportedly replied, “not a thing.” He declined to take a breath-alcohol test or other sobriety tests on the roadside, saying, “because I don’t have to.”

He was arrested for investigation of DUI and taken to the Lake Stevens Police Department for processing. After speaking with a lawyer, Toyer submitted to multiple breath-alcohol tests, the highest of which read at .178, Francis said. That is more than double the legal limit to drive of .08.

Toyer’s car was impounded, and he was driven home. That is a common step when someone has been arrested on suspicion of DUI but doesn’t have prior DUIs or other criminal history, Francis said.

Toyer was charged with DUI on Jan. 29 in Evergreen District Court in Monroe.

He has been on the City Council since 2011 and won re-election in November.

Toyer owns a wealth-management firm and an insurance company, which share an address in Lake Stevens. The business is within a mile of where he was pulled over. Toyer lives in the Sunnyside area of south Marysville.