Suspended San Francisco Sheriff Mirkarimi Tells His Side Of Story
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - Embattled San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirakarimi has spoken out in his first extended interview since being suspended by Mayor Ed Lee. He said that he has been anxious to tell his side of the story because it has been eating at him for four months now.
"This has been quite a nightmare, an ordeal," said Mirkarimi, who cried as he appeared on the Forum program on KQED Radio.
He recounted the events of December 31st when he got into an argument with his wife Eliana Lopez in their minivan on the way to lunch. It was over an impending trip to her native Venezuela with their three year old son. The sheriff said that he turned the car around because he didn't want to be arguing in public, but it was against his wife's wishes, and that's the crux of the false imprisonment charges to which he pleaded guilty.
KCBS' Holly Quan Reports:
"By the time we got home I had already vented what I had to say, so it was off my chest, and I acted inappropriately," said Mirkarimi. "I swore at my wife in front of my son. I was angry that she wasn't hearing me, and I regret this terribly, but she was also extremely upset to a point where I had never seen her agitated before in a way where it made my son extremely upset."
It was while Eliana was trying to remove their son from his car seat that Mirakarimi said he grabbed his wife's arm and she got bruised, the same bruise that showed up in a videotape given to police.
Mirakarimi said that you can't deny that politics is part of what he calls this runaway train. He is currently appealing his suspension and misconduct charges.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
