Since 31-year-old Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Lerentee McCray has earned $10.8 million in salary, so far during his NFL career, he thought he could get away with flipping cops the bird and making a fast break. They tackled him eventually, and he’s charged with speeding and starting a high speed chase.
NFL player drives like a jaguar
Fruitland Park Police in Florida didn’t know they were chasing an NFL player but they should have had a clue, because he was speeding like a jaguar, early on the morning of January 16.
One of their patrol officers spotted his Dodge Ram pickup “going 88 mph in a 50 mph zone” around 1 a.m. and zeroed in.
When the officer lit up the red and blues and flipped on the siren for emphasis, the NFL star flipped up and waved his middle finger, then hit the gas.
The way they filled in the blanks on the police report is “instead of pulling over, McCray used an expletive hand gesture using the middle finger and kept on driving.”
With Fruitland Park police in hot pursuit, “McCray led officers on a high-speed chase that went at speeds up to 100 mph.” They decided to call it off to protect the public “because the suspect was driving recklessly.”
He was driving like he had the ball and was headed for an end zone, evading NFL opponents. Arresting officers note, the linebacker “was swerving across three lanes of traffic.”
Altered mental status
After Fruitland Park dropped behind, they radioed for help and the Tavares Police Department was waiting up ahead for him. They note when they approached the NFL player when he finally came to a stop, “he appeared to be in an ‘altered mental status.'”
Just to be on the safe side, “Officers called for an ambulance and had McCray transported to the hospital to be evaluated.”
Once he got to the hospital, the Fruitland Park police officer who initially tried to pull him over got to do the interview before getting the NFL icon’s autograph on an appearance ticket.
“Oh, that was you? My bad,” McCray apologized, per the report. Oh no, that wasn’t the bad finger he was flipping, McRay insists, he “was motioning for them to follow him.” He certainly got his wish.
Documents indicate that the player contracted to the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars franchise was charged with “fleeing/eluding police with disregard of safety to person or property.” He wasn’t booked into jail until nearly 8:00 that morning but he was “released 40 minutes later on a $5,000 bond.”
He also got a speeding ticket. The team is aware of the incident and aren’t saying much other than that, yet. “We have no further comment at this time.”
