July 31--New York Jets former first-round draft pick Sheldon Richardson was arrested at gunpoint in Missouri earlier this month and later charged with resisting arrest and other traffic violations, according to the St. Charles County prosecutor's office.
Richardson's arrest on July 14 came less than two weeks after the NFL announced the 24-year-old defensive end had been suspended for four games for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
According to the release, police spotted Richard's 2014 Bentley Silver Spur engaged in an apparent race with another vehicle and clocked the cars speeding in excess of 143 mph. Richardson then tried to evade the officers by running a red light and turning off his car's lights.
Police eventually spotted the car parked in a driveway and ordered the Jets player and two male occupants out of the vehicle at gunpoint. A 12-year-old boy was also a passenger in the vehicle.
Officers found a loaded handgun underneath the driver's side floor mat and noted the smell of "burned marijuana emanating from the vehicle," according to the release.
If convicted of resisting arrest, a misdemeanor, Richardson could face up to one year in jail or a $1,000 fine.
"I take full accountability for my actions," Richardson said Thursday before news of his arrest came out, according to the New York Daily News. "I apologized to my teammates and this organization, and I told them they don't have to worry about my name being in the news again.
"I'm not a dope fiend. I can say no. I just chose not to. I was in a depressing time in my off-season, and that's just it," Richardson said of his four-game suspension. "It's just that simple. There's money on the line, and my money is worth more than some weed."
