By SAEED AHMED | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Published on: 05/20/07
Rep. Ben Harbin, chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, was charged with driving under the influence Sunday after police said his car sheared a utility pole near downtown Atlanta.
Atlanta police said Harbin (R-Evans) was driving on Memorial Drive when he struck the pole shortly after 1 a.m. near Oakland Cemetery. The car traveled another 40 to 50 feet before coming to rest.
Harbin, 43, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital as a precaution and charged with DUI, said Officer Eric Schwartz. No one else was in the car.
Schwartz did not know if Harbin was given a sobriety test.
Harbin, who has served in the Georgia House since 1995, is chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the key panel in the House that oversees how the state's budget is spent.
He assumed the position in 2005, when Republicans seized control of the House. He is part of the Republican power structure that also includes Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) and Speaker Pro Tempore Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta).
Late Sunday night, Harbin — whose district is in east Georgia, near Augusta — did not respond to telephone calls placed to his cellphone and home.
Clelia Davis,
spokeswoman for Richardson, who appointed Harbin as chairman, said she had no details on the incident and could not comment.
Shortly after the crash, Robby Russ, a waiter at the Standard Food & Spirits, heard what he said sounded like a boom and looked out through the large window of the bar to see a utility pole "crooked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa."
Russ, 41, said he ran out to help. He said Harbin was coherent and without any visible signs of injuries. He wasn't in "bad shape on the intoxication level," said Russ, who has been tending bars for 18 years.
"I know he's been charged with DUI, and I know he's an important guy. But he wasn't wasted," he said. "He wasn't slurring his speech or falling over his face. He composed himself very well."
Staff writer Jeremy Redmon contributed to this article.
