DALLAS (AP) -Former Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson won’t face charges for two alcohol-related arrests earlier this year, officials said Thursday.
Two Travis County grand juries declined to indict Benson on charges of boating while intoxicated, resisting arrest and driving while intoxicated.
The former University of Texas player is “elated” over the decision, said Sam Bassett, his attorney.
“Since my initial review of the evidence in both cases, I have said that Cedric was not guilty,” Bassett said in a statement. “I hope that this situation reminds us all that not every person who is arrested for a crime is guilty.”
Benson was stopped May 3 while on Lake Travis and charged with boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest. He was then pulled over in downtown Austin on June 7 and arrested on a drunken driving charge.
l arrest, officials did not conduct a field sobriety test and there was no video evidence.
In the driving while intoxicated case, there was video evidence but Benson “appears very well” in the recording, Escamilla said.
Benson’s status as a well-known sports figure in Austin did not play a factor in the outcome of the cases, the county attorney said.
“Sometimes it’s to his benefit and sometimes it’s not,” Escamilla said. “We call them as we see them.”
The grand jury heard from law officers and Benson before making its decision, Bassett said.
Travis County Court-at-Law Judge Elisabeth Earle had previously ordered Benson to install an ignition lock breathalyzer in his car as a condition of his bail at a pretrial hearing in June. Bassett said he believes Earle will allow Benson to remove the device.
The Bears cut Benson after the second arrest in Austin. He is a free agent. Benson’s agent did not return a phone call Thursday left by The Associated Press.
Benson was arrested when he was a student at the University of Texas in 2003 on a misdemeanor criminal trespassing charge. Misdemeanor drug and alcohol charges against him were dropped in 2002 after an arrest in Midland.
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