UNC point guard Ty Lawson had his first court appearance continued Tuesday until early August.
Lawson faces charges of driving after consuming alcohol, violating a local noise ordinance and driving with a revoked license.
Chapel Hill police officer C. Shehan arrested Lawson, 20, at 2:33 a.m. on June 6 on North Columbia St., in the heart of town. The officer stopped Lawson, who was alone in a 2005 four-door Chevrolet with Maryland plates, after hearing loud music coming from the car, said police Capt. Chris Blue.
Shehan suspected that Lawson had been drinking, conducted a field sobriety test and found probable cause to charge him with the misdemeanors, Blue said. State law prohibits anyone under 21 from driving after drinking any amount of alcohol.
Lawson was given a Breathalyzer test, said police Capt. Jackie Carden. The arrest
and incident reports did not disclose the Breathalyzer reading, but Carden said it must have been below .08 or Lawson also would have been charged with DWI.
Lawson was taken into custody, processed and released on a written promise to appear in court today.
In an e-mail, a UNC-Chapel Hill athletics spokesman said coach Roy Williams will not comment on the arrest until Lawson's case goes through the legal process.
Lawson was convicted Sept. 14 of speeding 80 mph in a 65 mph zone in Granville County and Aug. 31 of speeding 70 mph in a 55 mph zone in Durham County, court records show.
State Division of Motor Vehicle records indicate that he failed to appear in court on several occasions.
He also was charged with speeding 68 mph in a 45 mph zone in Wake County in May 2007 but failed to come to court, according to court records.
Lawson, a junior, averaged 12.7 points for the Tar Heels, who advanced to the Final Four last season. He is one of three UNC players who entered their names into the NBA draft, but he has since announced his plan to return to school.
— Staff report
Comments
State fans should change
Thu, 07/10/2008 - 08:17 — WNCMikeState fans should change their primary color from red to green (as in with envy) as most every post by a wolfie is anti Carolina. If they'd spend as much time thinking about their program as they did Carolina's they may have something.
To clarify...
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 13:05 — JPDOhio"Mouthing off to Carolina fans" who mostly support Ty counts, but I was referring to the multiple speeding tickets and missed court appearances as well. I am sure that there are worse miscreants than Ty. But I am always troubled when a gifted athlete who is fortunate to be part of a program like Carolina seems to take it all for granted.
you could say that about
Thu, 07/10/2008 - 18:22 — Beezer (not verified)you could say that about alot of guys at any college in America, JPD.
but I would not lump speeding tickets into bad things. and I still think he'll get off of his DD ticket considering it was like a .03 and was pulled over for loud music intially.
I usually agree with alot of what you have to say, even though you root for State, but not this one.
He's still got a long ways
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 08:16 — WNCMikeHe's still got a long ways to go to pass chris washburn.
not sure I follow JPD. hes
Tue, 07/08/2008 - 21:10 — Beezer (not verified)not sure I follow JPD. hes only been in trouble once, while it is a biggin, it is still only once.
maye "bad judgement" is mouthing off at UNC fans during draft time??
#1 in the ACC
Tue, 07/08/2008 - 20:22 — JPDOhioIf the conference kept track of the number of times a player exercised bad judgement, Ty would be among the league leaders, at least in the basketball category.