New Orleans Saints safety Usama Young arrested after traffic stop

Saints S Young arrested after traffic stop

By BRETT MARTEL (AP)

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Saints safety Usama Young's failure to appear in court for parking in a handicap spot led to his arrest this week after he was stopped for speeding.

Harahan Police Chief Peter Dale said officers initially pulled Young over in suburban and intended to give him a ticket, but had to arrest him because records turned up an outstanding violation in Jefferson Parish. Sheriff's spokesman Col. John Fortunato confirmed that Young had failed to appear at a court date.

Young and his attorney, Donald "Chick" Foret, said the other citation came last year when the player was parked illegally at a cell phone store.

"I wanted to say I sincerely apologize for doing what I did. There's no excuse for it," Young said in a phone interview. "I ran into the AT&T store for a two- to three-minute stop to get a phone charger, and came back out and an officer was writing me a ticket. Immediately, I knew I was wrong."

Young said he also wanted to apologize specifically "to all people with disabilities or the elderly who need handicapped parking spots. I wasn't acting professionally and you can bet that I won't do anything like that again."

Young said he forgot to pay the parking ticket and forgot about the court date, in part because he had a lot going on between the end of the 2008 NFL season and his return to Kent State University in Ohio to finish work on his degree in education.

Young was on his way home when he was pulled over by Harahan police around 3:14 a.m. on Monday.

Dale said Young was clocked at 55 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone and drove about a mile before pulling over.

"He wasn't belligerent. He didn't give officers any trouble," Dale said.

Still, the officers cited Young with reckless driving and fleeing police, then arrested him. He was transferred to the Jefferson Parish jail in Gretna and released on $1,500 bond soon after, Foret said.

Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said the team was aware of Young's arrest.

"We are working with him, our legal counsel and we are supporting Usama in this matter," Bensel said.

Young, 24, was a standout at Kent State and a third-round draft pick in 2007. He spent his first two seasons as a reserve cornerback and special teams player.

This season, he switched to free safety and has impressed coaches during training camp while competing with veteran Darren Sharper for the starting job. Sharper is expected to start, but coaches have said Young is making a strong case for playing time.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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[harahansux]

harahan cops ha hwat a joke the cops at the mall have a higher risk job than these clowns they shoould go find a real job or if they want to actually call them selves cops then why dont they go somewhere crimes are actually comittied. the worst crime in harahan is the battery dying on an old ladys scooter when shes tryin to cross jefferson highway. and peter dale HAHAHA what a joke hhow can you have a chief on drugs???

[ladyspeight1]

Guys, it was only a traffic ticket,he did not kill anyone! traffic ONLY!

[slewofdamascus]

driving while black, no doubt

[johnbs199]

people make mistakes. he'll come back and tear it up at safety along with Sharper