Ex-Raider Damon Arnette found with ‘white powdery substance,’ police say
Hours before a Las Vegas criminal case against Damon Arnette was dismissed, the former Raiders player was nabbed by Florida police in possession of a “white powdery substance” believed to be cocaine.
Miami Beach police said they found a baggie with the substance and a cut-up straw they described as drug paraphernalia in Arnette’s pants pocket following a traffic stop early morning Tuesday, according to an arrest report released Monday.
An officer involved in the arrest had recognized Arnette, 25, and his Dodge Charger from a traffic stop the previous night, police said.
Police had let Arnette go with a citation and a warning for driving with a suspended license, the report said.
He was later booked on one count each of drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and knowingly driving on a suspended license, police said.
He posted a $1,000 bond that day and is next due in court on Aug. 25, Miami-Dade County court records show.
His listed attorney could not be reached for comment.
That same morning in a Las Vegas courtroom, the Clark County district attorney’s office announced that it was not prosecuting Arnette on counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and gun-and-drug-related charges stemming from a Jan. 28 incident on the Strip in which Arnette was accused of pointing a gun at Park MGM valets.
District Attorney Steve Wolfson later told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the Metropolitan Police Department did not provide enough evidence to move forward with the case, and that “there were potential Fourth Amendment violations” during his arrest, a claim Metro refuted.
The Raiders dropped Arnette in November, after footage emerged that showed the team’s 2020 first -round draft pick threatening someone with a gun.
He was briefly picked up by the Kansas City Chiefs, but also dismissed after his January arrest.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @rickytwrites.