NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY)- New Iberia City Councilwoman Natalie Lopez addressed her recent DWI arrest at Tuesday night’s city council meeting, apologizing to her constituents and asking for prayers.

Lopez was arrested this past weekend and charged with driving while intoxicated-child endangerment, (failure to maintain) proper control of vehicle, (failure to provide proof of) renewal of registration and resisting an officer.

Records showed a $2,500 bond for the DWI charge.

According to the Daily Iberian, the meeting Tuesday was the first time Lopez had addressed the incident in full, and at the end of the meeting she took the time to speak to her District 1 constituents.

“First and foremost, I would like to apologize to the constituents of District 1,” Lopez said. “Since getting elected in 2011 a lot has happened in my life, and while part of me thinks my personal life is my business, another part of me knows when I signed up to run for office I was accepting that my life now has the possibility of being put under a microscope.”

Lopez said the past year has been traumatic for her and her family, and dealing with those issues has been taxing for her.

She said some of those issues included her father being involved in a car crash, and in the following months saying “very hurtful things to me.”

Lopez said that her father had been physically, verbally and mentally abusive toward her since she was 11, and that she had to file a restraining order against him last fall.

Read Lopez’s full statement here