Ex-NFL player Jamal Anderson was arrested for public intoxication when he was unable to present Atlanta police with proper identification and instead offered up a pack of cigarettes and a bag of half-eaten chips, TMZ reports.
When the former Falcons running back reportedly stiffed his limousine driver on a $50 ride the day before Christmas at approximately 5 a.m., the driver called the authorities and issued a complaint. When officers arrived at the RaceTrac gas station and asked Anderson for his driver’s license, he allegedly showed them a pack of cigarettes (several times) and seemed strangely confused about the situation. He was subsequently cuffed.
The footage shows Lawrenceville Police searching his person for a wallet or ID, unable to find one, and being pretty confused about his ability to purchase chips without the requisite cash. The officer’s jocular theory that Anderson used cigarettes to barter for chips was only half right, as a gas station patron later confirmed that another customer paid for the items.
While Anderson has faced legal trouble or arrests for indecent exposure, cocaine possession, and driving under the influence in the past, this latest incident saw him coherent enough to engage in conversation, and smart enough to hire a driver instead of getting behind the wheel himself. Unfortunately, it’s quite clear from the footage that the football star was too drunk to present law enforcement with proper identification, which they deemed public intoxication and deserving of an arrest.
The 46-year-old was adamant he’d done nothing wrong, vocalizing his stance of innocence from the moment of arrest to the nearby police station he was booked in. The limo driver, meanwhile, declined to press charges over the unpaid $50 fare.