A man driving a vehicle owned by Indiana
Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal was arrested Friday night on a
marijuana possession charge, police said. O'Neal was not in the SUV,
and a police spokesman said he was not suspected of any involvement.
O'Neal said he had nothing to do with the incident. He said he
bought the SUV about five years ago and had given it to a friend,
but continued paying for its insurance.
An officer spotted the Chevrolet Tahoe with window tinting that
was too dark and smelled an odour of marijuana coming from inside
after pulling the vehicle over, police Sgt. Matthew Mount said.
The officer saw ``shavings of marijuana'' on the SUV's front seat
and arrested the driver on a misdemeanour charge of marijuana
possession and a charge of driving with a suspended license, Mount
said. The driver told officers he had borrowed the SUV from the
person to whom O'Neal had lent it.
``O'Neal's name is just getting dragged through the mud because
some yahoo borrowed the car and decided to smoke some marijuana,''
Mount said.
The incident happened two days after Pacers guard Stephen Jackson
was charged with a felony count of criminal recklessness and two
other charges for firing a handgun during a fight involving three
Pacers teammates and others outside an Indianapolis strip club last
week.
O'Neal told The Associated Press he did not know the person who
was driving the SUV.
``It's not a car that I drive at any time. It's not a car that I
keep at my house. It's not a car that I ride in,'' O'Neal said
Friday night. ``Today's my birthday, and I'm in the middle of
opening presents and get a phone call about one of my cars being
towed. I'm like, `All my cars are here.'''
