Posted at 1:37 p.m., Tuesday, June 19, 2007
NBA: Lakers owner Buss faces misdemeanor DUI counts
Associated Press
VISTA, Calif. — Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss is facing two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence in connection with his arrest last month.The 74-year-old was taken into custody May 29 after he drove his gold Mercedes-Benz station wagon the wrong way on a street in an unincorporated section of Carlsbad that has double yellow lines, the California Highway Patrol said.
The district attorney's office filed one count each of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs and driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent or greater against Buss, it said today.
The complaint alleges that Buss was under the influence of an unspecified drug but refused to take a chemical test.
Buss was arrested after failing a field sobriety test.
He is scheduled to respond to the charges by July 10, but he is not required to appear in court on the misdemeanors. Buss has been vacationing in China and Europe this month.
Buss later said he only drove a short distance, but "it was a bad decision and I was wrong to do it. It was a mistake I will not make again."
Buss, who had a 23-year-old woman in the car with him, was in the Carlsbad area because he has a home in north San Diego County. His main residence is in the Playa del Rey section of Los Angeles.
