Seymour’s Son Gets Jail for Repeated Drunk Driving

LODI — U.S. Sen. John Seymour’s 24-year-old son has been sentenced to 40 days in the San Joaquin County jail after pleading no contest to his fourth drunk-driving conviction.

Shad Edward Seymour was arrested in Garden Grove on May 3 on a warrant issued after he failed to appear in Lodi Municipal Court. That court hearing involved an incident last year in which Seymour was found unconscious behind the wheel of a car in a traffic lane, according to a California Highway Patrol officer.

Sen. Seymour (R-Calif.) was en route to San Diego from Washington on Thursday and could not be reached for comment. But in an interview earlier this week, the senator said his son’s troubles with alcohol dated back to his teen-age years and that he has been through several treatment programs unsuccessfully.

According to authorities, Shad Seymour’s April, 1990, arrest was handled as a felony because he had at least three prior drunk-driving arrests. His blood-alcohol level at the time was 0.20%-more than double the state’s legal limit of 0.08, authorities said.

According to court records, Shad Seymour was also arrested on suspicion of drunk driving on May 23, 1985, in Santa Ana. In that incident, he rammed his car into a fence at Dyer Road and Grand Avenue about 12:10 a.m.

Tuesday, Municipal Judge J. Thomas Seibly sentenced Shad Seymour to 20 days for drunk driving, 10 days for driving on with suspended license and 10 days for failing to appear for his earlier court appearance.