New York Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson was charged with resisting arrest and a handful of traffic violations on Thursday as the result of a high-speed road race near his home in St. Charles County, Missouri, on July 14.
St. Charles County prosecutor Tim Lohmar said Richardson was racing his 2014 Bentley Silver Spur on a highway and was clocked by police at speeds of 122, 135 and 142 miles per hour.
If only his speed was the worst of it.
According to court records obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, when an officer tried to stop Richardson's car, he turned off his lights and briefly lost control, sliding into the rear of another car in oncoming traffic. Richardson then pulled off the highway and sped through a red light in an attempt to evade the pursuing officer.
When Richardson pulled into the driveway of a random home nearby, officers ordered him out of the car at gunpoint because he allegedly reached for something under his seat when confronted by police. Richardson and his passengers, two adult men and a 12-year-old boy, complied with demands to exit his Bentley.
Officers found a loaded, legally owned semi-automatic handgun underneath a mat on the driver's side of the car. Police also reported smelling a "very strong odor of burned marijuana" in the car.
It's not the first time Richardson has run into some trouble off of the field.
The car chase comes less than two weeks after Richardson was suspended for four games by the NFL for a failing a drug test, which is believed to have been triggered by marijuana use.
On the Jets' first day of training camp on Thursday, Richardson addressed reporters about his drug use.
"I'm not a dope fiend," Richardson said before these latest charges broke. "I can say no. I just chose not to. I was in a depressing time in my offseason and that's just it. It's just that simple. There's money on the line and my money is worth more than some weed."
The Jets, however, were not aware of the July 14 incident until the St. Charles Country Prosecutor's Office disclosed it on Thursday.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
No comments:
Post a Comment