Marshawn Lynch charged with DUI
Jul 18, 2012, 10:19 AM | Updated: 11:25 am
By Brady Henderson
Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch has been charged with DUI stemming from his arrest over the weekend near his hometown of Oakland, Calif., the Alameda County District Attorney’s office confirmed Wednesday.
Lynch has an arraignment scheduled for Aug. 14.
A charge increases the likelihood that the NFL will suspend Lynch, especially given his previous run-ins with the law. ESPN’s John Clayton told “Brock and Salk” on Tuesday that a charge could lead to a suspension of 4-6 games.
Lynch ran afoul of the law twice during his three seasons with the Buffalo Bills. In 2008 he pleaded guilty to a traffic violation after he struck a female pedestrian with his car in downtown Buffalo then drove off. He said he was unaware his car had hit the woman. In 2009 he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge in Culver City, Calif. after police found a semiautomatic handgun in the trunk of a car carrying Lynch. The NFL suspended Lynch for the first three games of the 2009 season after his guilty plea.
Until Saturday, Lynch had stayed out of trouble during his two seasons with the Seahawks.
According to an incident report released by the California Highway Patrol on Tuesday, Lynch was pulled over around 3:20 a.m. Saturday in Emeryville after he was seen weaving from lane to lane on Interstate 880, twice nearly colliding with a different vehicle driving in an adjacent lane.
Authorities say Lynch showed signs of intoxication. He took multiple sobriety tests and was then was arrested and booked into jail, where he was cited and later released. The District Attorney’s office would not give Lynch’s blood-alcohol level.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.