Former Brizzi Spokesman Arrested Third Time For Drunk Driving

A former deputy prosecutor and spokesman for former Marion Co. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi has been arrested a third time for drunk driving. The Indianapolis Star's Tim Evans is reporting that a Hamilton County Sheriff's Department officer, Capt. Dennis Quackenbush, arrested Mario Massillamany early Sunday morning after he was stopped for speeding in the 5300 block of east 96th Street at 7:37 a.m.

“An OWI (operating while intoxicated) investigation was conducted,” Quakenbush reported, “and Massillamany was arrested.”

Massillamany was taken into custody on “preliminary charges of OWI: Previous Conviction and OWI: .08 to less than .15 BAC.”

Massillamany was taken to Hamilton County Jail and later released on bond.

A spokeswoman for the Hamilton County prosecutor’s office said formal charges had not been filed as of Monday afternoon.

Massillamany is the president of the Hamilton County Young Republicans and is a governmental affairs attorney for the law firm of Barnes & Thornburg. He was hired by the firm to fill the position formerly held by former City-County Council President Ryan Vaughn, also a former deputy prosecutor under Brizzi, before he left the firm and the council to become Mayor Greg Ballard's Chief of Staff.

Massillamany resigned from the Marion Co. Prosecutor's Office after he was arrested and pleaded guilty to drunk driving in March, 2010 after was stopped for speeding and driving in the wrong lane on a Fishers street. Massillamany had previously pleaded guilty to drunk driving in Marion County in 2000. The Indiana Supreme Court issued a public reprimand of Massillamany in May, 2011. Under Indiana law, a drunk driving charge is elevated to a Class D felony if a driver has a previous conviction of operating a vehicle while intoxicated within the past five years.

Evans' report indicates that it's unclear where Massillamany was headed at the time of his arrest or whether he was accompanied by any passengers. "However, on his Facebook page, Massillamany posted an update at 1:33 a.m. saying he was at the Red Room, a Broad Ripple lounge that uses the tagline 'Modern Sophistication with a Wild Side,'" Evans said.