Seattle Seahawk defensive end Raheem Brock was in total disbelief when pulled over for a DUI back in 2010 – because the cops didn’t offer him a lift home.
On November 13, 2010, Brock was pulled over by Washington State Patrol officers after his vehicle was spotted fish-tailing and travelling in excess of 90 miles-per-hour along a stretch of Interstate 5 in Seattle. Brock subsequently recorded a blood alcohol level of .115.
After being read his rights, the former Philadelphia Eagle is said to have asked the police, “You guys don’t take care of your athletes out here?” Brock went on to explain himself with: “Every time I have been stopped out east, Chicago, New Jersey and Philadelphia, the cops either followed me home or gave me a ride.”
NFL players contacted by The Public Apology in Chicago, New Jersey and Philadelphia all confirmed Brock’s assertion that cops treat them differently to normal citizens when it comes to drink driving.
“Yeah, I like the hooch; I also like driving my truck. Sometimes, stuff happens when you do the two things at the same time. Cops have pulled me over, they’ve seen that I’m black, which doesn’t go down real well. But then they work out that I’m a pro athlete, then everything’s all good,” said one high-profile, offensive tackle, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“Most of the time, the cops are just happy to meet you,” he went on to say. “Sometimes you get one who needs a bit more of an inducement. Good tickets always go over well. If a cop’s getting troublesome, I’m just like, ‘how about a couple of box seats?’ That usually gets you out of any legal problems.”
Brock’s failure to win over Seattle’s finest was revealed after Philadelphia Magazine began looking into Brock’s past following another unsavoury incident – his 2010 arrest, and recent trial, for doing a runner on a US$27 restaurant tab. Police arrested Brock and his female companion in June after he left the Copabanana restaurant in South Philadelphia without paying the measly bill; Brock was later convicted of a single count of theft in Philadelphia Municipal Court.
In an interview with high-brow web publication TMZ, Brock claimed the whole thing was a misunderstanding and that he had cancelled his food order before he left. “While I was in da ‘cuffs, I explained to the manager that I own restaurants… and if there’s a policy about paying for food that hasn’t come out… [then] it should have been explained to us before we left,” Brock said.
During the TMZ interview, Brock also denied allegations made by several other restaurant patrons that he said to the owner of the Copabanana: “Man, don’t you know know who I am? I’m an athlete. If I don’t want to pay for something then I damn well ain’t going to.”
The Philadelphia court ruled that Brock and his girlfriend serve six months probation. The sentence was largely pre-determined thanks to Pennsylvania’s ‘Sentencing Guidelines for Pro-Athletes’, which mandates that any current or past members of the Philadelphia Eagles – and their spouses – receive a gentle slap on the wrist for any crimes committed within the state.
By Nick Gordon