Cedric Benson arrested in Texas on boating charges
Cedric Benson’s uncertain status with the Bears became more tenuous when the running back was arrested Saturday night in his home state of Texas, charged with drunk boating and resisting arrest.
Eleven months after the organization cut ties with defensive tackle Tank Johnson following his regular run-ins with the law and a stint in the Cook County Jail, the club faces scrutiny over Benson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2005 draft who has underperformed while being paid roughly $13.8 million over three seasons.
(AP/Courtesy)
Benson was arrested on Lake Travis near Austin after a Lower Colorado River Authority officer made contact with his 30-foot boat to do a random safety inspection at 9:07 p.m. Benson failed a "float test," an abbreviated field sobriety test, and when the officer instructed him he would have to come to land to do an extended test, Benson became argumentative, according to a press release from the LCRA.
When Benson refused to wear a life jacket and continued to "present himself as a threat to the officer" he was subdued with pepper spray. On land, Benson had to be dragged into a waiting Travis County Sheriff’s vehicle for transport to central booking at 9:46 p.m. He refused to take a breath test at central booking and was charged with the two Class B misdemeanors, which are each punishable by six months in jail and a fine of $2,000, according to Roger Wade, the public information officer for the Travis County Sheriffs Office. The report stated "12 to 15" other people were on the boat and no one else was charged. None of the others were football players.
"Very disappointed," coach Lovie Smith said when the team’s rookie minicamp concluded Sunday afternoon. "But the truth of the matter right now, that’s about all I know. I haven’t had a chance to speak with Cedric yet, but any time we’re talking about one of our players getting arrested, you’re disappointed. What we’re going to do from here, I’ll go back and try to get as much information as I possibly can and go from there."
The Bears drafted Tulane running back Matt Forte in the second round last weekend, with plans for him to compete with Benson immediately for playing time. Benson is recovering from a fractured left leg that required a plate and screws be inserted into the leg and ankle. General manager Jerry Angelo said last week the expectation is Benson will be ready to be on the field before veteran minicamp at the end of the month, but his injury history coupled with this off-field incident only cloud his future.
Benson twice ran into trouble while at the University of Texas. He was arrested for possession of marijuana in 2002, and was arrested for trespassing after he kicked his way into an apartment in Austin in search of a plasma television set he owned that had been stolen. The drug charge was dropped. He received an eight-day sentence for the trespassing incident, but the club felt good about using the fourth pick in ’05 on him, a selection that has dogged Angelo since. The general manager was out of town and unavailable for comment.
Benson was freed after posting $14,500 bond at 3:30 a.m. The club’s voluntary offseason program runs again Monday but it is not known if Benson will attend. Smith expects to speak with Benson soon.
"You try to wait and get as much information before you make a lot of comments about it," Smith said. "And that’s what I am going to do. We’re always disappointed when we have someone that we’re talking about being in trouble with the law."
Benson was handed the starting job last season after Thomas Jones was traded away to the New York Jets and he had 674 yards, four touchdowns and a 3.4-yard per carry average before breaking his leg against Denver on Nov. 25. He has 1,593 yards and 10 touchdowns in three seasons.
He isn't the only player to catch the attention of the law recently. Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs has been summoned to Cook County Court. He will appear next month to explain why he left Illinois without the court’s permission and how he intends to complete 120 hours of community service as part of his guilty plea for leaving the scene of an accident last August stemming from his Lamborghini smash up on the Eisenhower Expy. The court had record of him having completed only two hours.
