Stallworth charged in man's death

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4033632

MIAMI -- Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth was charged Wednesday with killing a pedestrian last month while driving drunk after a night out at a swank South Beach nightspot.

An arrest warrant charging Stallworth, 28, with DUI manslaughter was filed in the March 14 accident that killed 59-year-old Mario Reyes. If convicted, Stallworth would face as many as 15 years in prison.

Stallworth's blood-alcohol level after the crash was .126, well above Florida's legal limit of .08, according to results of a blood test. Stallworth also will be charged with DUI, which carries a possible six-month sentence plus fines and community service for first offenders.



Stallworth

"Whenever a deadly accident occurs and a driver is impaired, families suffer," Miami-Dade state attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. "I can only repeat this message over and over: If you are going to drink, don't drive."

Stallworth, who is expected to surrender in court Thursday, released a statement last month saying he was "grief-stricken" over the accident. Prosecutors said they will ask that he be released on $200,000 bail.

Stallworth will be prohibited from driving while on bail and not allowed to drink alcohol, according to court documents. He also must observe a 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and must submit to random alcohol and drug testing through the NFL's substance abuse program.

A Miami Beach police report said that Reyes was not in a crosswalk on busy MacArthur Causeway when he was struck by the black 2005 Bentley luxury car driven by Stallworth. The construction crane operator was trying to catch a bus home after finishing his shift about 7:15 a.m.

The report also quoted Stallworth as saying he flashed his lights at Reyes in an attempted warning and that Stallworth was driving about 50 mph in a 40-mph zone.

An additional police affidavit filed Wednesday said that on the morning of the crash, Stallworth was drinking at a club in the posh Fountainebleau hotel on South Beach. He left to go to a nearby home -- it's not clear if the home was one of Stallworth's three Miami-area properties -- hen headed out to the causeway where Reyes was struck.

"I hit the man lying in the road," Stallworth told officers arriving to investigate the crash, according to the affidavit. One officer smelled alcohol on Stallworth's breath and said that his eyes appeared bloodshot and watery.

Stallworth's attorney Christopher Lyons did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

Stallworth signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Browns before last season but was injured much of the year. He previously played for New England, Philadelphia and New Orleans.

Gabe Pruitt busted on DUI charge

http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view/2009_02_26_Gabe_Pruitt_arrested_on_DUI_suspicion/srvc=home&position=also

LOS ANGELES – Celtics [team stats] backup point guard Gabe Pruitt was arrested early this morning for drunken driving after being pulled over in a Mercedes Benz while stopped at a green light, Los Angeles police said.

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said that the team was aware of the incident and was still looking into it.

Shortly before 3 a.m., a Los Angeles traffic cop saw the drivers of two vehicles stopped at a green light on W. Sunset Boulevard “having a conversation,” said Officer April Harding, an LAPD spokeswoman. The officer pulled over the Mercedes S550, which Pruitt was operating, for


Pruitt, 22, was taken to the LAPD’s Hollywood division jail where he was booked on a misdemeanor DUI charge, police said.

The player’s bail was set at $5,000 but Pruitt had not been released by 8 a.m. local time. The Celtics were scheduled to depart LA at 10 a.m. local time.

“He’s still going through the booking process,” Harding said.

Pruitt is from the Los Angeles area and played college basketball at the University of Southern California. He played six minutes and scored three points in the Celtics’ 93-91 loss to the LA Clippers last night.

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Barkley "sorry" for DUI

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3917107

prepared to return to his television gig after a six-week leave of absence.



Barkley

Barkley had a blood-alcohol level of .149 percent, nearly twice the legal limit of .08 percent in Arizona, after the 45-year-old former NBA star was arrested Dec. 31 in Scottsdale.

He will resume his studio analyst role for TNT on Thursday.

"This is just my bad, no excuses," Barkley said in an interview with TNT colleague Ernie Johnson posted on NBA.com Wednesday.

"I think that a DUI is unacceptable," he added. "That can't happen and I've got to challenge other people, not just celebrities or jocks. You have to really think before getting behind the wheel after you've been drinking."

Barkley conceded he may face jail time. He indicated that the case will be resolved by plea agreement and expected to undergo alcohol counseling.

"I think it's going to be good for me, to be honest. I need to make sure drinking is not a problem for me," he said. "I just want some professionals to talk to me about it."

If they tell him to stop drinking, "then I'll have to stop drinking," he said.

Asked if he could do that, he replied, "I feel I can do anything that I put my mind to."

Barkley apologized to his family, employer and the league, saying he had embarrassed them. He thanked a long list of friends -- including Hall of Famers Larry Bird and Moses Malone -- for checking in on him.

He vowed he would start using a driver when he goes out in public and would not get behind the wheel after any drinking.

"I let so many people down," he said. "It just [stinks] watching the shows and not being there. I screwed this up."


Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press