Toronto mayoral frontrunner Rob Ford admitted Thursday that he was arrested in Florida in 1999 for driving under the influence and marijuana possession -- one of several brushes with the law.
It was yet another setback for the conservative city councillor, whose controversial remarks have raised questions about whether his popularity will suffer as he campaigns to lead one of Canada's most diverse cities.
A City of Miami police affidavit states Ford was nervous after being pulled over while seen driving apparently without having any lights on.
When Ford, who had a strong smell of alcohol on his breath, stepped out of the vehicle, he took all of his money and threw it to the ground.
"Go ahead, take me to jail," he's quoted by the police report as saying.
Ford, whom recent polls suggest is leading the race to replace outgoing Mayor David Miller, at first denied he was ever charged, but later copped to it when local media dug up the police report, saying he'd forgotten about the incident.
He called a news conference outside his office Thursday to "set the story straight."
The pot possession charge was dropped, but Ford pleaded guilty to DUI for failing to give a breath sample to police. He said he paid a fine of about US$500 and did 50 hours of community service coaching football.
"I am not perfect. I have never claimed to be perfect," he said.
"I guess I had a few drinks at Valentine's dinner with my wife. It was a mistake. I shouldn't have been driving. And I owned up to my mistake."
It wasn't the city councillor's first brush with the law.
When he was 18, Ford was charged with assault over an ice hockey fight. But that charge was dismissed, he said. Charges of assault and threatening death involving a 2008 incident with his wife were also dropped, he said.
"I do not have a criminal record," said Ford.
Despite the run-ins with police, Ford insists that he is still the best candidate to lead Toronto, given his city hall and business experience.
He said the Oct. 25 election is not about mistakes he made more than 11 years ago, but how future decisions will shape Toronto for the next decade.
"I'm only human and we've all made mistakes," he said.
Earlier this week, Ford came under fire for his comments on immigration during Tuesday's televised mayoral candidates debate.
When a Tamil member of the audience asked about the role of refugees in the city, Ford replied, "We can't even deal with the 2.5 million people in the city. I think it's more important that we take care of the people now before we start bringing in more."
His rivals, including former Ontario deputy premier George Smitherman, pounced on the comments as evidence of intolerance.
Mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson also faced a charge in 1999, a campaign official said.
She was charged privately by an ex-employee but the Crown did not proceed with the charge, John Tory Jr., told the Toronto Star in emails Thursday night.
"In 1999, Sarah was involved in a dispute with a female ex-employee. Said employee was disgruntled and was believed to be stealing company property," Tory wrote.
"After confronting the employee, Sarah called the police and the employee was arrested. Shortly thereafter, the police informed Sarah that the employee had filed assault charges against her . . ."
Ford isn't the first popular Toronto politician to harbour controversial views. Salesman turned mayor Mel Lastman spent six years in the top job despite an impressive record of cringe-worthy comments.
He once mused about ending up in a "pot of boiling water with all these natives dancing around me" ahead of a trip to Kenya, was photographed shaking hands with a Hells Angels member at the height of public concern about the proliferation of criminal biker gangs, and even threatened to kill a journalist.
Despite his off-colour remarks, "Mayor Mel" was a staunch pitchman for the city and won 80 per cent of the popular vote in the 2000 municipal election.
The similarities between Ford and Lastman weren't lost on one Toronto newspaper, which ran a front-page photo of the rotund Ford under the headline "Bad Boy" -- a tongue-in-cheek reference to Lastman's furniture store and the notorious slogan that made him a household name.
The former mayor, who retired in 2003, can still be seen in Bad Boy commercials alongside his son, hollering his sales pitch with an "OK" sign and an exaggerated wink: "Who's better than Bad Boy? Nooooobody!"
One expert fears Toronto will end up with the 2010 sequel to the original Bad Boy.
"If Ford got elected, he would make Mel Lastman look like an outstanding statesman," said Nelson Wiseman, a politics professor at the University of Toronto.
