QUOTES/VIDEO: Looking back at Councilman Zack Reed’s troubled past with alcohol, drunken driving

CLEVELAND - A look back at statements from Cleveland Councilman Zack Reed, following his third DUI arrest since 2005 Tuesday morning.

Attempting to recite alphabet during April 2005 traffic stop:

Reed: "a-b-c-d-e-f-g-a-f-g-b-e-f-g-h-i-g-d-a." Officer: "Mr. Zachary Reed you're not saying your ABCs very well." Reed: "I know I'm not." Officer: "Sir, what I want you to do is put your hands behind your back. Sir, put your hands behind your back. You're under arrest for driving under the influence. Sir, don't resist. Sir, don't resist. Sir, stop resisting."

In court May 2005 after pleading guilty to DUI:

"I know I don't have a drinking problem, and it's an incident that happened, it's an incident that we have good litigation on we're going to put this thing behind us."

"Right now, I'm sorry for what I did, sorry for what I did to my church, my friends, my family and my constituents, and we're going to put it all behind us and keep moving forward and continue to do the things we're doing in Ward 3."

On alcoholism after spending 28 days at the Cleveland Clinic for treatment in 2007:

"I'm going to be living a life of sobriety now and therefore I won't have to worry about other things in life. I'll be worried about me physically, mentally and spiritually and doing the political things I've done."

"I've seen three members of my family die of alcoholism. They didn't die from car crashes, they didn't die of natural diseases. They died because they didn't stop drinking."

After July 2008 DUI conviction:

"I was blessed not to have killed anyone. I was blessed not to have harmed myself. Now I have to take that blessing and talk about that to other individuals."

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Reed pleaded no contest to DUI after his first arrest in 2005 and was sentenced to 10 days in jail. He was also ordered to wear an alcohol-monitoring device.

A judge gave Reed 60 days in jail but suspended 50 of them following a November 2007 DUI arrest where he was found passed out behind the wheel of his car. Reed also lost his license and had to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as part of that sentencing.