Leanette Lopez, a candidate for the Kentucky House of Representatives, was arrested this weekend and charged with third-degree assault, a felony offense, and suspicion of drunken driving, her second alcohol-related arrest in just more than a month.

Sunday’s arrest has prompted the local Republican Party to call for Lopez to suspend her campaign.

Lopez, 53, of Bowling Green, was arrested by the Warren County Sheriff’s Office at 2:20 p.m. Sunday on a charge of operating a motor vehicle under the influence, as well as resisting arrest and third-degree assault.

Lopez is running as a Republican for the 20th District Kentucky House seat currently held by Rep. Patti Minter, D-Bowling Green. Lopez is opposed in the Republican primary by Kevin Jackson.

“The details surrounding the most recent arrest of Leanette Lopez are shocking and unacceptable,” the Warren County Republican Party said in an e-mail to the Daily News. “She should immediately suspend her candidacy for state representative.”

An arrest citation said the sheriff’s office was dispatched Sunday to the 11800 block of Morgantown Road, where a caller came upon a Buick SUV stopped in the road and a driver who appeared intoxicated.

The caller found Lopez in the driver’s seat with a bottle of vodka in her lap, took the keys out of the ignition and the bottle from Lopez and helped move her into the passenger seat so that the SUV could be moved safely off the road, the citation said.

When deputies made contact with Lopez, she refused to speak initially and then said she wasn’t going to do field sobriety tests and wanted to go home, her citation said. Her eyes were bloodshot and her speech was slurred, the citation said.

When she was asked to exit the SUV, she refused and tried to shut the door. She said she wouldn’t exit the vehicle “because she was Brown” and demanded that her husband come to the scene, the citation said.

Two deputies had to physically remove Lopez from the vehicle, and she is accused of pulling away from them and resisting efforts to be placed in handcuffs.

“Lopez was placed into handcuffs by force and escorted to my cruiser,” the citation said. “Lopez refused willingly to get in my cruiser and we had to physically lift her and place her in the cruiser.”

At the Warren County Regional Jail, Lopez refused to get out of the cruiser, and several jail deputies had to help to physically escort her to the sally port.

“I asked if she wished to contact or communicate with an attorney and her response was ‘blah blah blah,’ ” the citation said.

Lopez refused to give a breath sample at the jail and also refused to comply with instructions given by jail staff, leading her to be placed in a restraint chair, according to her citation.

“While jail deputies were placing Lopez into the restraint chair, she grabbed the finger of one of the jail deputies and bent it, causing pain and loss of function of her finger temporarily,” the citation said.

Lopez was released from jail at 12:32 a.m. Monday on a $5,000 cash bond, according to the jail website.

She is due to appear May 18 in Warren District Court for arraignment.

Lopez also has a pending district court case stemming from her Feb. 27 arrest by the Bowling Green Police Department on a charge of alcohol intoxication in a public place.

She has pleaded not guilty and has a pretrial conference in that case set for Dec. 1.

Lopez, a Christian recording artist and minister, unsuccessfully ran as an Independent against Minter in 2020.

Lopez did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

– Follow courts reporter Justin Story on Twitter @jstorydailynews or visit bgdailynews.com.