Golden (Colorado): Beer company executive, chief commercial pitcher and former Senate candidate Pete Coors confirmed on Thursday that he was cited in May for driving under the influence of alcohol after leaving a friend's wedding celebration.
"I made a mistake," Coors said in a prepared statement. "I should have planned ahead for a ride. For years, I've advocated the responsible use of our company's products. That's still my message, and our company's message, and it's the right message. I am sorry that I didn't follow it myself," Coors added.
The citation, first reported by The Denver Post, happened in Golden, the longtime hometown of the Adolph Coors Co. just west of Denver. The company has since become the Molson Coors Brewing Co. after a 2005 merger with the Canadian brewer.
Coors was driving a 2004 Jaguar when he was pulled over by a Colorado State Patrol trooper just before midnight on May 29, according to officials in the Jefferson County District Court clerk's office.
He was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence and cited for failing to obey a traffic control device.
Coors rolled through a stop sign a block from his home and was stopped by the officer in his driveway, company spokeswoman Kabira Hatland said. She said his blood-alcohol content following a breath test was 0.088, above the legal limit of 0.08.
He was driving with a 60-day provisional license, Hatland said. A hearing before motor vehicles department officials is scheduled for Friday.
Coors took over as president of his family's company in 1987 and in 2000 was named Chief Executive of the brewer, which has 8,500 employees and rang up $4 billion in sales in 2003.
A tall, silver-haired figure familiar to many as the face of the Coors television ads, he was a political novice in 2004 when he decided to seek the Senate seat being given up by Republican Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. He won the Republican primary but was defeated in the 2004 general election by Democrat Ken Salazar.
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