Berkley councilman resigns after being charged in holiday hit-and-run crash

Jan. 30--A City Council member in suburban Detroit has resigned his seat after he was arrested on charges of leaving the scene of a traffic accident -- and after he may have evaded a chance for police to test his breath for alcohol consumption following a New Year's Eve party.

Berkley Councilman Alan Kideckel, who later admitted to police he had more than one drink that night, submitted his resignation in a letter to the city clerk Monday, saying he felt that remaining on the council "will distract our city from moving forward."

Police said that Kideckel, a member of the council since 2011 and longtime city volunteer, drove away after his car struck that of another motorist in the early hours of Jan. 1. Officers had responded to the report of a crash in the area of Oakshire and Beverly, one block south of the city's downtown bar-and-restaurant district on 12 Mile Road and about two blocks from Kideckel's house, police said.

"Following an investigation of the accident, public safety officers determined that Berkley City Councilmember Alan Kideckel was at fault and had in fact left the scene," said a news release from the city. According to a police report of the incident, officers followed Kideckel's tire tracks in the snow to his house, then knocked on his door and called his phone but got no response.

Because the accident had resulted only in property damage to the vehicles, and no injury to the other driver -- a pregnant woman -- police decided not to force entry into Kideckel's house, the report said. That meant that Kideckel avoided submitting to a breath test that could've shown he was impaired by alcohol in the crash two blocks from his house.

Later that morning, Kideckel visited the Berkley police station and spoke with officers. According to the police report of their conversation, he admitted that he'd been drinking during a New Year's Eve party at the city's American Legion Hall before he got into his car. The car he struck had to be towed from the scene, the police report said.

The report said Kideckel was cited with failing to yield to a traffic control device and charged with the misdemeanor offense of leaving the scene of a property damage accident.

"Berkley Public Safety treated this matter as it would with any driver (but) because Mr. Kideckel is a publicly elected official in Berkley, the city attorney referred the prosecution of these citations to Royal Oak," said the city's news release. Kideckel has yet to be tried on the charges.

The Berkley City Council will accept his resignation at its next meeting, on Feb. 5, after which they'll have 30 days to fill the vacancy, city spokesman Jay Grossman said. Kideckel's term was to expire in November 2019, so whoever is appointed to the seat will serve until then, Grossman said.

Kideckel declined to comment Monday. In his resignation letter to the city, he said he looked forward "to helping and contributing to the city of Berkley as a private citizen."

Kideckel, 59, sells insurance from an office at his home, according to online business listings.

On Jan. 10, the resignation of Wolverine Lake village Councilman Michael Stack took effect after he was identified by village officials as the wrong-way driver on I-275 whose crash into an oncoming vehicle left Stack unhurt but killed an engaged couple on Dec. 12 in Canton. Subsequent blood and drug tests found no evidence that Stack's driving was impaired, according to Michigan State Police.

Contact Bill Laitner: [email protected]

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