Categories
Chicago Bears

Cedric Benson’s career capsizes on an Austin lake


The moment tears began rolling down his face after being selected fourth overall in the 2005 NFL Draft, the Bears faithful began getting a sinking sensation in their guts. After Sunday, Chicagoans probably think even the name “Adam `Pacman’ Jones” would have sounded better coming off the commissioner’s lips.

Benson was arrested on Saturday night on an Austin lake after he failed a sobriety test while driving a boat, then failed another sobriety test on solid ground, refused to put on a life jacket and then resisted arrest to the point where officers were forced to pepper-spray him while practically dragging him to the patrol car. If Benson was just half as motivated in uniform then he might have more than 1,593 yards and 10 touchdowns in three friggin’ years!

Of course, Cedric’s story is completely different despite the fact that about 15 other people were on the boat and none were arrested. Oh, and none of those friends have stepped forward to support Benson’s claims of police brutality. But it’s still worth a shot.

“I was not intoxicated. There was alcohol on the boat, and others were enjoying themselves, but I wasn’t drunk,” he said. …

The officer arrested Benson, who kept arguing and “continued to present himself as a threat,” the LCRA said. The officer then pepper-sprayed him.

Benson tells a much different story: “Even after they pepper-sprayed me, I have no idea why they did that. I was cooperative. I asked them several times why they did that, and they didn’t give me an answer.”

Once the boat docked, Benson refused to leave the LCRA boat, authorities said. An LCRA officer and Travis County sheriff’s deputies were “basically carrying/dragging him” to a car for transport to jail, the release said.

Again Benson gave a different account: “They kicked my feet out from under me and slammed my face down. They had a hose and were running it over my face. They were choking me and stuff, not with their hands but with the hose in my face. I couldn’t breathe. I don’t know if they did that because of the pepper spray, but I didn’t ask them to put the hose in my face.”

Benson said he declined a breath test once in custody on the advice of his lawyer, Brian Carney.

The former Longhorn has probably seen his last action in Chicago and he could spend up to six months in jail as a result of this little run-in with the law. A word of advice for the Kansas City Chiefs: Watch out for Jamaal Charles because in case you haven’t noticed, Texas running backs are a strange breed.

Links:

[SunTimes.com]: Troubled waters
[WBBM780.com]: Cedric Benson Arrested, Alleges Police Abuse

Categories
Denver Nuggets

Carmelo Anthony is a drinking lightweight


When Carmelo Anthony was arrested a couple of weeks ago for DUI, he wasn’t just a little buzzed. No, Melo was tanked which isn’t surprising considering his team totally tanked the postseason. Turns out Anthony’s blood alcohol level was .148, according to CBS4 reporter Brian Maass. The legal limit in Colorado where the arrest occurred is .08. Carmelo claims that he only drank “two glasses of red wine,” but unless those “glasses” were actually pitchers of red wine then we think he’s full of crap. However, Carmelo’s attorney thinks the news about Carmelo is inconsequential because Carmelo apologized for Carmelo’s actions and the whole situation is now behind Carmelo. Carmelo. Carmelo. Carmelo.

We received notice that Carmelo’s blood test came back over the legal limit. This is old news in that Carmelo has admitted from the beginning that he had been drinking and driving and should not have been,” Anthony’s attorney, Dan Recht, said Responding to an inquiry from CBS4. “Carmelo has said he will take responsibility for his actions and he does. Carmelo continues to be deeply disappointed in himself, as (he) has said before. Carmelo’s actions that night were completely out of character and something he has never done before.”

According to attorneys and police officers, a first-time offender in Colorado will typically lose their driver’s license for at least three months when their blood alcohol level exceeds the legal limit for DUI.

Guess that means Anthony’s driving days in Denver could be over, both on and off the court.

Links:

[CBS4Denver.com]: Anthony’s Blood Alcohol Nearly Twice Legal Limit

Categories
General Sports

You can breathe easy now security guards, Jerry the Gate Crasher is in custody


With tickets to games becoming more and more obscenely expensive, it’s getting harder and harder to see those big events without dropping a month’s salary just to get into the door. Well, if you are innovative enough, dedicated enough and ballsy enough then there are alternatives. You’ve heard of “wedding crashers” and you’ve heard of “party crashers,” but have you heard of a “gate crasher” before? If you haven’t then you need familiarize yourself with Jerry Berliant because he is THE greatest gate crasher of all gate crashers – and now he’s in jail.

Jerry Berliant was caught trying to sneak into the NCAA tournament at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Berliant goes by the nickname “Jerry the Gate Crasher.”

Denver police arrested Berliant Thursday night when he used a fake press pass to get into the Pepsi Center. Police said they found much more incriminating evidence after searching him.

“After the officers contacted him, they were able to determine, wow there are many, many more fake business cards with his name on it,” Det. John White with Denver police said. “Different professions, other media and press credentials. So this guy was an expert.”

Berliant has been spotted at events including Super Bowls, prize fights and the Oscars. He has even bragged that he crashed the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

Obviously we have a lot to learn because we can’t even get past the 16-year-old acne-riddled kid at the movie theatre!

Links:

[CBS4Denver.com]: Infamous `Gate Crasher’ Arrested At Pepsi Center

Categories
Minnesota Vikings

Bryant McKinnie arrested after spitting and hitting


The Minnesota Vikings are at it again. Only this time, the good stuff is going down on dry land instead of on the Love Boat. Vikes tackle Bryant McKinnie went Street Fighter early Sunday morning, brawling outside of a Miami club. McKinnie found himself in the pokey as a result, arrested on counts of aggravated battery, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence. Nice work, Bryant.

Authorities were called to Club Space after a fight broke out. McKinnie had been thrown out by a nightclub security guard and was arguing and spit on Eric Otero, according to a police report.

Otero, 32, said he wouldn’t press charges if McKinnie left. Authorities said the former University of Miami football player then went to a nearby strip club, but later returned to Club Space and fought with Otero again.

Miami Police found McKinnie “in the middle of a large crowd, throwing punches and again yelling obscenities,” according to the police report.

Police told McKinnie to stop. He refused and boarded a bus. The bus driver was ordered not to drive away.

McKinnie, who has been a staple on the Vikings offensive line since being drafted out of Miami in 2002, was arrested and bonded out for $9,000 at 2:25 p.m., Miami-Dade County Corrections Department spokeswoman Janelle Hall said.

It’s pretty impressive when you think about it. McKinnie has criminal charges against him on the ground and on the water, so the only place left for McKinnie to get into trouble is in the sky.

Links:

[AJC.com]: Viking’s tackle arrested after street fight

Categories
College Football

It takes freshmen a while to pick up on things, like never offer money for sex


The Buckeyes suspended freshman reserve quarterback Antonio Henton from the team after he got arrested attempting to solicit a prostitute. Henton was arrested on Monday around 8:30 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio, after pulling his car up alongside a lady of the night and offering her 20 bucks for sex. And of course, she was a cop.

We were working an operation that involved undercover female officers that portrayed the role of prostitutes,” the sergeant said.

The sergeant said officers involved in the operation identified Henton immediately after his arrest.

“One of the officers that made the stop on him from the cruiser that follows Ohio State football knew immediately who he was,” the sergeant said. “He seemed very remorseful.

Remorseful is probably the understatement of the year; after all, he was on his way to hopefully becoming the starting quarterback at THE Ohio State University. He’d never have to go roaming the streets for cheap dates ever again. Heck, we’re pretty sure that even Craig Krenzel was able to get some quality tail on status alone.

Henton was released around 3:00 in the afternoon after posting a $2,500 bond. But, enough about Henton’s great mistake already. We don’t want to be too critical of the `kid’ and rile up coach Gundy all over again. However, we are getting kinda worried about the psyche of the state. On the heels of the whole Maurice Clarrett debacle, Ohioans are really taking this news pretty hard; especially Judge Amy Selerno.

I as well as many fans and graduates of Ohio State University are very disappointed to see you today here in my courtroom,” she said.

We don’t blame the honorable judge for her disappointment, but we’re guessing that there’s a few million Big Blue faithful who are loving the fact that their rivals are the ones finally squirming a bit this year.

Links:

[10TV.com]: Ohio State Player Suspended After Arrest

Categories
College Football

University of Arizona fan gets fried after pissing off the wrong cop


We understand that football has far surpassed baseball for the title of `America’s pastime’, but some people take their passion for the game a bit too far and end up paying for their fanaticism. Like this loser student from the University of Arizona who got so mad that the school had oversold the home opener against Northern Arizona on Saturday night that he assaulted an officer, took a couple zaps from a stun gun and then got thrown in jail. Now that’s school spirit.

Sgt. Eugene Mejia, a UA police spokesman, said one of those students had to be stunned after he assaulted an officer.

Mejia said the student was treated by medical personnel but became combative again and was stunned a second time.

Officers arrested the student on suspicion of aggravated assault on a police officer.

We can somewhat sympathize with the crazy kid’s situation, after all, he was all psyched up to see Arizona and Northern Arizona go at it. We personally wouldn’t have taken it that far for such a lousy game, but that’s just us. We typically refuse to take 10,000 volts for anything less than a match-up between two Top 25 teams.

Links:

[KVOA.com]: Police use stun gun on student turned away from football game

Categories
Miami Heat

James Posey gets popped for DUI



Now I’ve got a pair of bracelets
to go with my ring.

So, how do you like to spend your Easter? Most people get dressed up and head to church; maybe have the family over for lunch, play some cards and so on. Well, Miami Heat forward James Posey might enjoy those same types of holiday activities, but it looks like he also likes to get plastered and talk to random people in the middle of the road.

Posey was arrested early this morning on charges of drunken driving when a Miami Beach police officer noticed Posey was stopped in the left lane and chatting it up with some passerby’s in another car. As if that wasn’t bad enough, when asked to produce his driver’s license, Posey made the drunken blunder of dropping the license as he handed it to the officer. Anyone who has ever done this knows exactly what comes after that; “Please step out of the car, sir.”

Once out of the car, Posey displayed “bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and an odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath,” the officer wrote in his report. The player also was unsteady on his feet and swayed while standing, the report said.

Turns out that Mr. Butter Finger’s ID wasn’t even valid, so he got charged with driving with a suspended license as well. Posey was booked into the Miami-Dade County clink but we figure that he’ll probably get bailed out pretty soon. After all, the guy is making $6.4 million this season.

Links:

[NBC6.net]: Heat forward James Posey charged with DUI

Categories
NHL General

Odds and Ends: Go ahead, drink and drive (the Zamboni)

A New Jersey Superior Court judge ruled yesterday that John Peragallo was not guilty of DWI and should have his license reinstated. Peragallo lost his license last year after arena officials saw him swerving while cleaning the ice. The judge ruled that Zambonis are not, in fact, motor vehicles. No word on whether the man was fined for wearing square pants.

In other news…

[ESPN]: Oddsmaker had previously filed a report of suspicious activity on Toledo

[Indy Star]: Colts play arrested on marijuana charge — this wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t lent his water bottle to Michael Vick

[Page Six]: Let’s hope Greg Norman doesn’t fold under courtroom pressure

[Sport People]: A fairly amusing collection of sports photos. (Yet somehow misses this photo.)

[basketbawful]: What nobody was asking for: the Ben Wallace throw pillow

Categories
Atlanta Hawks

In today’s marijuana news…


We’ve got a trio of drug related news for you today folks. First up is Michael “Don’t Criticize Me” Vick. Vick has been cleared by Miami police of any wrongdoing because the super secret spy water bottle he tried to bring aboard a plane at Miami International did not contain any pot. Vick certainly dodged a bullet there but what kind of moron refuses to surrender a water bottle with NOTHING IN IT? Vick’s last contract was for $130M… the water bottle costs $20. That Michael Vick ain’t too smart.

Second up is yet another Bengals arrest. This time cornerback Johnathan Joseph was arrested for pot possession after a car in which he was the passenger was pulled over. Police smelled marijuana and searched a Super Bowl XL backpack and found the pot. Good thing that swag is going to good use. This marks the 4,397th arrest for the Bengals this year.

Finally, Mike Tyson has plead not guilty to drug charges even though he admitted to being an addict in an interview with police and was busted with cocaine. His lawyer said, “Drug addiction is a victimless crime. We believe this is the kind of crime where you shouldn’t go to prison.” So doesn’t this mean he’s guilty but wants a lighter sentence? Ahh the good ole justice system. He’ll get a slap on the wrist and some community service.

Links:
[Miami Herald]: There was no pot in Vick’s bottle, police confirm
[Cincinnati Enquirer]: Bengals’ Joseph arrested
[AZ Central]: Tyson pleads not guilty to drug charges