NBA player arrested

By Malynda Dorsey

October 02, 2007 12:23 am

— VALDOSTA — Los Angeles Lakers center Kwame Brown, 25, was arrested in Valdosta over the weekend after a traffic stop by Valdosta police.
Early Saturday morning Valdosta police noticed a vehicle traveling the wrong way in the 100 block of North Patterson Street, Lt. Bobbi McGraw said. The vehicle was stopped near the intersection of Patterson and Hill Avenue.
According to reports, the driver of the vehicle, Charles Edward Warren Jr., 23, was charged with a driver’s license violation and driving under the influence of alcohol. Authorities then learned that the passenger of the vehicle was NBA player Kwame Brown.
Brown’s reported inappropriate behavior during law enforcement’s investigation led to his arrest on charges of disorderly conduct and interference of an officer. The two men were transported to the Lowndes County Jail.
Brown and Warren, who had been spotted earlier that evening at Glo Nightclub — located only a few feet away from the location of their arrests — were later released on bond, according to reports.
This incident is not the first run-in with the law Brown has had in recent years. Last year the Brunswick native faced claims of sexual assault after a woman, who admitted to some consensual activity with the NBA star, accused Brown of sexually assaulting her by force after Game 3 in the first round of the Western Conference
Playoffs against the Phoenix Suns, according to an Associated Press article. Prosecutors rejected the claim in July due to lack of evidence after a medical examination of the complainant revealed no signs of forcible assault.
After the claim was rejected, Brown, who asserted his innocence throughout the investigation of the incident, issued a statement that included the following: “I am gratified that the authorities have come to the same conclusion and that the matter is being dropped. I have been upset and frustrated to be wrongly and very publicly accused of something that I did not do and to have my name and reputation so unfairly damaged. And even when the truth is finally determined the stain of an allegation remains with no real recourse against or penalty to the accuser. There is no point served by any further comment on the situation and I simply would like Laker fans to know that I am putting it behind me and focused on advancing my career and helping my team in any way I can.”
Brown has been with the LA Lakers since 2005. He was traded to the Lakers from the Washington Wizards, who chose him as their first overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft making Brown the first No. 1 overall pick to be drafted straight out of high school.

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