Charles Barkley Arrested On DUI Charge

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Charles Barkley was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol early Wednesday.

An officer with a task force that targets drunken driving saw the former NBA star run a stop sign about 1:30 a.m., Gilbert police Lt. Eric Shuhandler said. Barkley was in Scottsdale's Old Town area, a trendy spot in the Phoenix area.

"I am disappointed that I put myself in that situation," Barkley said in a statement to The Associated Press. "The Scottsdale police were fantastic. I will not comment any further as it is a legal matter."

The 45-year-old Barkley, now an NBA television commentator, failed field sobriety tests after the officer smelled alcohol on him, and he was arrested. Barkley declined to submit to a breath test but was given a blood test. The results weren't immediately available.

Barkley was cited and released. His car was impounded and he left in a cab, Shuhandler said. Police described Barkley as cooperative, adding it is customary to release people after an arrest on suspicion of DUI.

"There was nothing unusual about how he was taken into custody," Shuhandler said. "He was treated exactly like we treat anybody else."

In 1997, Barkley was arrested in Orlando, Fla., and charged with hurling a bar patron through a glass window after the man tossed a glass of ice at him. The case was settled after Barkley was fined and performed community service.

Barkley was selected one the NBA's 50 greatest players in 1996 and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. He played 16 seasons for Philadelphia, Phoenix and Houston and was on the 1992 and 1996 Olympic teams. Barkley was an 11-time NBA All-Star and league MVP in 1993.

He starred at Auburn and last month was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

Comments

[MarvBitesBack]

LMAO. I just read the police report on thesmokinggun. Guess what, Charles got off lightly. He got arrested just after he picked up a, ahem, girl walking on the street. Apparently he was "in a hurry" so that explains the little problem with the stop sign. The report quoted him as saying "You want the truth?... I was gonna drive around the corner and get a bl*w j*b." The report goes on to explain that Charles said she had given him a bl*w j*b one week earlier and that he noted importantly it had been the best one he ever received in his life.

Let's see how robXdion defends his buddy now! Were the police sticking it to the man by not charging him as a john?

I was mad at Charles, but this brutal honesty has moved him up a notch or two in my book. Absolutely too funny.

[Bariis]

Somewhere out there, Lebron James is laughing out loud.

[LiberalBuzz]

Dummy.

[wembakoy]

Now the election is over what are you thinking about your country?

This is my suggestion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a08L8fcNZLk

Happy New Year 2009 to all.

Thanks

[NAOMA]

If you want to know why Charles Barkley ran that stop sign and was arrested for DUI,
check it out on Smoking Gun. I think you might be surprised! At least he was being
"honest."

[Shammie2000]

chuck star, can you say Good Bye Governership.

[Palemoon]

Where were you people in 2000 when Bush was running for President having had DUI and drug convictions?

[Sonny50]

Crawl back onto your feces stained mattress and go to sleep.

[Palemoon]

Charles, one of the few basketball players I have really admired, I hope you were not being a dumbledork by driving intoxicated. Only idiots and republicans do that!

As far as the article pointing out he was cited and released, while mentioning he had turned down the breath test but submitted to the blood test, I wonder if he was cited merely because he refused the breath test? I have no idea about the laws in Arizona, but in some areas, you can refuse one for the other. But in some states, if you refuse one then they consider it an admission of guilt and you are charged as if the test was over the limit, even if it is clearly shown to be not over the limit.

That's the way it is here in Georgia. A local airman at the base I once worked at was pulled over and given a sobriety test. He passed everything, including the breath test which was well below the .08 limit here. Still, he was given a DUI because in Georgia, DUI's are "officer discretion". So if an officer thinks are you impaired, you are charged with a DUI and there's nothing the airman was able to do about it. He was also punished by the USAF, given 30 days correctional custoday and confinement to base and barracks.

[MarvBitesBack]

"Only idio ts and republicans do that!" I suppose Teddy K and son Patrick fit into the former category then? At least no one dr owned in this event.

[PatA]

And Top Feeder, from the shallow end of the gene pool, said This is a primarily a political blog for political junkies. Barkley expressed an interest in running for political office. Matt Dillion has not. Stands to reason that this article would get more hits. If you are constantly looking for bias you will always find it."

You are reading this in the entertainment section.

[Topfeeder]

Does your post have a point other than to insult me?

[robXdion]

No, you're doing just fine by yourself.

[PatA]

Charles Barkley is a real man. He would not sit at his computer and trash talk about someone that he knows nothing about , except what he might read in a paper. He takes full responsibility for his actions and he always has been honest.
The person who thinks he knows what state he is going to run for governor in........wrong........it is Alabama. He has residence there now.
He has been a liberal thinking person for a very long time now.
Get over it and go back to hibernating and drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon.

[openlids]

I loved Charles as a player, I really enjoy watching him on Inside The NBA every Thurs night, and I'd love to have the chance to have a beer with him someday.

Drunk driving is stupid though, thankfully no one got hurt.

[cruisepuppy7452a]

I'm a fan of Barkly, I think he played well, am not a racist. I am just saying I hope he doesn't find himself in AA. If he actually has a real problem, he would be better served getting in from the medical profession that treats addiction and not some phony group. My comments were not against Charles at all, they were however against AA.

[aznurse]

Hmmm.

[hapiguy]

Another, who cares,,,jerk

[escobar]

They will force him to jump through some hoops.
The only inconvenience will be the time they demand from him.
Unlike most people he has more money than he could ever spend.
He has no job that he needs to worry about getting to.
He can hire a driver to take him where he wants to go when he wants.
If he has a pool, he could allow a Kato to live in the cabana and do his bidding.
If that doesn't suit him, he could call a limo service or taxi....heck, he can buy the company to be sure of good service.
He made a mistake. Like most people he likely felt he, "Isn't that bad".
They are everybodys famous last words. Unfortunately, he was bad enough.
Alcohol really is a powerful drug. It ruins your judgement before your reflexes.
At least he didn't have an accident that hurt innocent people.
He wouldn't want that. This doesn't make him a bad guy.
This arrest is only a humiliating pain in his rear, it could easily ruin the life of a working man.
How can the cops let him drive drunk when they bust everyone else?
They can't convict you if you pass the test.
One can refuse it and take the knock...so what.

[TLCB]

What's with these guys? They go out and drink and drive. Dude, you're loaded. Hire someone to drive you. wtf?

[BigMike75]

Way to kick off that eventual run for office Chuck.