The head of the Office of Congressional Ethics was arrested and charged with DUI and three other violations after veering off the road, plowing over a stop sign, hitting one parked car, and then anoth
er before finally crashing straight into the front porch of a house in Pennsylvania last month, according to police records and the criminal complaint obtained by Yahoo News.
“We take this matter very seriously and the Board will be reviewing the circumstances surrounding it,” read a statement from Mike Barnes and Paul Vinovich, co-chairmen of the board of the Office of Congressional Ethics. “In the meantime, Mr. Ashmawy has been placed on leave to deal with the issues that contributed to this incident. Helen Eisner will serve as the Acting Staff Director during his absence.
Fernandez said he went outside and saw a car on the side of his house. When he approached the vehicle, Fernandez said he saw Ashmawy in the driver’s seat with the airbag deployed, and the car was smoking. Fernandez’s car had been moved 9 feet from where he parked it, and was damaged to the point of being deemed inoperable, he said.“He almost looked stunned. Probably from hitting my house. He was definitely disoriented,” he told Yahoo News.
Fernandez’s account to Yahoo News is supported by police reports, insurance claims forms and other documentation obtained by Yahoo News.