A fullback for the Chicago Bears was arrested recently while traveling with the team for off-season training. Evan Rodriguez was eventually charged with disorderly intoxication and resisting arrest after allegedly trying to evade police questioning and disrupting an investigation of a car accident in which the player had been a passenger in one of the vehicles.
Police reports of the incident indicates that police tried to get him to stay at the scene so that they could complete the investigation, but that he continued to disrupt the field sobriety testing of the driver of the vehicle that he had been in and left briefly while police were attempting to question him. Police described him as agitated.
While some readers might dismiss this type of behavior as football player antics, many are not aware that this can lead to an arrest and charges for disorderly conduct or public intoxication. In addition, one can also be held criminally liable for interfering with a police investigation either through distracting antics and disruptive conduct, or through tampering with evidence, misleading police, or otherwise intentionally derailing an investigation.
The player later told police that his behavior could be attributed to the accident, which left him shaken up and upset. The police report indicated that he seemed intoxicated at the scene, with slurred speech and blood-shot eyes. These and other observations led authorities to charge him with public intoxication.
The professional athlete has had some trouble with the law in the past, although incidents during college did not result in any charges being filed against him.
Source: Chicago Tribune, “Bears’ Rodriguez arrested in Miami Beach,” Carlos Sadovi and Brad Biggs, March 21, 2013.
Information about DUI charges and other criminal charges in Illinois can be found on our website.