FORMER UT RB ARRESTED EARLY SUNDAY MORNING
Ex-Horn, now with Texans, is charged with unlawful possession of a handgun, marijuana.
Former Texas running back D’Onta Foreman was arrested ea rly Sunday by university
police and charged with having a small amount of marijuana and a handgun, according to police records.
However, the Houston Texans rookie claims he told police
about his legally owned handgun before officers searched his car, and that the marijuana
belonged to a friend and he would submit to a drug test to prove his innocence.
All of this happened just 10 days before the Doak Walker Award winner from Texas City is scheduled to start training camp with his hometown team.
“We are confident this matter will be resolved justly once the state of Texas applies the applicable law to the facts,” Foreman’s Austin-based attorney Sam Bassett said in a statement.
According to UTPD, officers responded to a report about a smell of marijuana at 12:24 a.m. Sunday.
The smell was coming from “three occupied vehicles near
the southwest side of San Jacinto residence hall on campus,” UTPD spokeswoman Cindy Posey said. “Officers arrived on the scene (and) discovered marijuana in each vehicle and also discovered a firearm in
one of them. “The owner of the firearm, D’Onta Foreman, was arrested for unlawful carrying of weap
ons and possession of marijuana and booked into Travis County jail,” Posey added. “Six
other male suspects were cited and released for possession of marijuana.
“None of them are UT students and they are not believed to have UT affiliations.”
According to jail records, Foreman was taken into custody
just before 3 a.m. and was out around noon.
Posey and multiple Texas sources confirmed to the American-Statesman that none of the
other six individuals are current UT players.
The Texans issued a statement saying the team was aware of a “situation involv- ing D’Onta Foreman. We are gathering additional information and will have no further comment.”
Bassett contacted the Statesman about 1:45 p.m. with a statement on Fore- man’s behalf that acknowl- edged the arrest.
“He had traveled to Austin to visit friends,” the statement said. “As he was leaving their residence, he was approached by police. Prior to a search of his vehicle, D’Onta alerted the officer that he had a handgun inside of his vehicle. This legal handgun was recently purchased by D’Onta and registered in his name.”
The gun was properly secured as required by law, according to the statement.
“A passenger in D’Onta’s vehicle was in possession of marijuana,” the state- ment continued. “D’Onta
did not use or possess the marijuana. Upon making his bond, he will submit to a urinalysis to confirm he has not used marijuana.”
It’s unclear how the Texans or NFL will view all of
this. The league is unpredictable in handing out pun- ishments. Foreman, who rushed for
more than 2,000 yards at UT last season, was a thirdround pick by the Texans.
Foreman’s statem e nt commended the profes- sionalism of the officers involved both in his arrest and booking into the Travis County jail.
Bond for the unlawful carrying of a weapon charge was $3,500, and bond for marijuana possession of 2 ounces or less was $1,000.