Prosecutors in Seattle have finally filed drunken driving charges against Seahawks defensive end Raheem Brock, more than a year after he was arrested -- an arrest during which police say Brock demanded to know why they couldn’t just “take care of” him the way he had been taken care of by police in other towns.
The incident took place on November 13, 2010, when a University of Washington police officer pulled Brock over for driving 85-90 miles an hour on Interstate 5. A breath test found Brock’s blood-alcohol content to be nearly twice the legal limit.
According to the police report, Brock was shocked that the arresting officer actually intended to enforce Washington’s drunk driving laws. Brock said he had previously been pulled over in Chicago, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, and that in all of those incidents the police just followed him home once they realized he was a pro football player.
“You guys don’t take care of your athletes out here?” Brock asked, according to the police report, via the Associated Press.
It’s not clear why prosecutors waited until now to charge Brock when the incident happened more than a year ago, but they were apparently prompted by Philadelphia magazine, which reported this week that no charges had ever been filed even though the arrest had been made. Perhaps someone in the prosecutor’s office was trying to “take care of” Brock, after all.