Fullerton city manager Joe Felz failed to curb his enthusiasm after making the rounds at election parties. He lost control of his car around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday morning taking a sidewalk at the 300 block of W. Glenwood and crashing into a small tree before skidding back on the street.

An internal Fullerton police department memo obtained by the Friends for Fullerton's Future blog reveals that a sergeant noted Felz smelled of booze when stopped by police. Fullerton police chief Dan Hughes, who's leaving soon to head up security at Disneyland, notes in the memo that he got an early morning call from the watch commander about the incident and told a field sergeant to conduct a field sobriety test.

A source tells the Weekly that Sgt. Jeff Corbett was the one who determined that Felz had been drinking, but not enough to warrant a DUI arrest. Fullerton police offered no response when asked if its within policy for a sergeant to do a field sobriety test, and if it was conducted alone without another officer present to stand as witness.

A tow truck hauled away Felz's wrecked car. Debris from the crash was visible at the scene the morning after. Hughes assured his department that if Felz had driven drunk, the investigation would have been handed over to the California Highway Patrol. No need, the chief said. Felz was merely involved in a “minor single vehicle collision.” But Fullerton police logs were unavailable online as of yesterday afternoon.

Keep it tuned to the Weekly for more on this developing story.