Detroit City Council President Leaving Strip Club Caught w/Drugs in Car after Fl

This is Detroit, a city that can't even successfully declare bankruptcy so of course he…




1. Was let off with a warning

2. Is claiming police abuse

The odyssey of that great member of the Democratic Party, Detroit City Council President Pro-Term George Cushingberry Jr began when he was returning from the Penthouse Lounge which is described as “Michigan's only premier Gentlemen's Club.”

Or as Cushingberry said, “I was coming out of the Penthouse Lounge, which is one of the places I've campaigned in all year.”


“A police source familiar with the investigation said the councilman was leaving Starvin Marvin's and almost hit police officers. Two sources confirmed that marijuana and an open intoxicant were found in Cushingberry's car.”

Starvin Marvin's is also a Detroit “gentleman's club.” However Cushingberry denied that he was at Starvin Marvin's and claimed that he was campaigning over at the Penthouse Lounge.

When you're caught with drugs in your car after leaving a strip club, you want people to think you have class.

So George Cushingberry Jr was driving with another gentleman in the car when the fuzz showed up. So Cushingberry did what any self-respecting Detroit City Council President would do, he tried to run them over.




Then he flashed his government ID to get out of the mess, which is also what any self-respecting Detroit City Council President would do.


According to sources, the officers gave chase after almost being hit, but the councilman did not stop. Another squad car was called in to help with the chase.

The source said officers finally stopped Cushingberry's car and spotted the open alcohol container and smelled marijuana.

“When they finally stopped him, he took off again,” the source said. “Then, he was stopped a second time and (Cushingberry) flashed his City Council ID card. There was another guy in the car who had a medical marijuana card, but it doesn't matter; you're not allowed to smoke in the car.

Police Chief James Craig would not confirm whether the officers who stopped Cushingberry had suspected he was intoxicated. He said that once the officers discovered his identity, they notified a supervisor, who made the decision that the Cushingberry would be cited and released.

So Cushingberry is, obviously, claiming police misconduct and racism. In an almost entirely black city.


He admitted the person that was with him smelled like marijuana, but, he said, it was because his friend had a medical marijuana card. As far as the alcohol, Cushingberry Jr. said there was an old, empty bottle of rum in his car from a few weeks ago. He did admit to having one drink that night, but insisted he was no where near being over the legal limit.

Sure, it was an old bottle from the last time he was drinking in his car. Because Detroit.


“It was obvious that I wasn't drunk because he didn't give me any field sobriety,” he told the Free Press.

The smell of marijuana carried by his passenger — a long time friend who worked for his campaign — was strong, Cushingberry acknowledged.

Cushingberry, who is black, said he believes he was racially profiled by the two white officers who pulled him over, in part because he drives an older car. On the citation he was issued, Cushingberry‘s violation is listed as “fail to signal.” He said the officers were too far behind him to see whether he was using his signal.

“So that is a bogus charge,” said Cushingberry, who is also a lawyer. “I intend to fight it.”

Of course it's a bogus charge. A face-saving decision was made to let the Detroit City Council president go with a bogus charge to avoid arresting him for all the real stuff.


“I can't comment further because there may be criminal charges” filed against Cushingberry, police spokesman Sgt. Michael Woody said.

“This is under internal investigation (by the department). We have to determine what went wrong with the way this was handled,” Woody added. Asked whether Cushingberry should have been arrested, he said: “It appears that way.”

But Cushingberry blames his crusading ways for the encounter.


“I think it's because I've been shaking up so many things,” he told the station. “I think it's a part of what I call driving while black syndrome amongst these white cops in Detroit who are picking on people with old cars.”

So is Cushingberry saying that he was arrested because of his shaking things up or because he was racially profiled or because he's too high and drunk to be able to make a logical argument?

Forget bailing out Detroit. Can't we just put it on the curb outside America and wait until another country picks it up?