Benson arrested in Texas (1 Viewer)

[3nOut]

FINALLY, this loser is going to be gone. Bout time!

Really? Where ya goin'? Just kidding, but seriously, Benson's not going anywhere. He may not be the starter anymore, but he will still be on the roster.

 

[flapgreen]

FINALLY, this loser is going to be gone. Bout time!

Really? Where ya goin'? Just kidding, but seriously, Benson's not going anywhere. He may not be the starter anymore, but he will still be on the roster.

I hope you're wrong.....and I'm not a loser. Seriously, I hope they get rid of him altogether. He's a cancer and has never been a team player, in Chicago or Texas. Always crying or complaining about something and never takes responsibility for anything. Just blames it on everyone else. As I've said many times before, I can't stand the guy and loathe the day we ever drafted him. Please get rid of this loser.

 

[Hawk]

I'll always have a soft spot for Benson because one of the guys in my keeper league (he went to Midland High where Benson went) traded me Tomlinson for him before Benson's rookie season. Obviously there was other consideration, but Benson was the reason he was willing to part with Tomlinson. Needless to say, that has not worked out so well for him!

But even as a die-hard Texas fan, Benson was never one of my favorite players. He just has no personality. He always acts so put upon or world weary, and it just doesn't seem right for a guy in his position to be that way. He doesn't seem to realize or appreciate how lucky he is to be where he is. Sometimes his personality reminds me of Eyeore from Winnie the Pooh. (Eyeore voice) "Nobody cares about me. Woe is me. Blah blah blah."

That being said, I still tend to think the cops were more at fault in this situation. Based on this article, he was probably guilty of bwb, and then being a little upset about being constantly harassed by the water cops.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...1,2315723.story

 

[sholditch]

Benson was obviously getting harassed and I bet dollars to doughnuts all his charges are dropped if he agrees not to sue.

However, this is not helping the above rep mentioned.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-08...,0,610873.story

Benson claimed police kicked his feet out from under him, causing him to fall awkwardly. When Benson got up, Cartwright remembers him sitting in a squad car surrounded by six officers.

"In the weakest voice, Cedric said to me and my fiance, 'Help me get out of here,' " Cartwright said. "He was so scared."

Dude, that's just embarrassing.

 

[the hairy scotsman]

Looking good there, Mr. Benson

Ever been pepper sprayed?

Benson said an officer asked him to board the police boat for an abbreviated sobriety test during which he recited the alphabet. Benson said he recited it without any mistakes. He said he was also asked to count forward and backward "at least 20 times." Benson said he kept asking the officers why they were doing this, while the police boat slowly drove away from where his own boat was parked.

Benson said that after the abbreviated sobriety test, the officer didn't charge him or say he'd failed the test, but that they wanted to take him in to land for more testing. "Why? I've passed every test," Benson said he asked the officer.

Benson said he was polite, even calling the officer "sir," and that he never cursed or yelled until the officer suddenly put down his flashlight and pepper sprayed him in the eyes.

With regard to the police claim that Benson refused to wear a life jacket, Benson said he was never offered one. He said police threw one over his head before departing the boat.

Benson said he was carried and dragged to a squad car once reaching land, but not because he was resisting officers. He said it was because his ankles and feet were kicked out from under him, and so he couldn't walk. Benson said he pleaded with police. "Please sir, let me just walk off the boat like a man," Benson said he told the officer.

Benson said he was repeatedly sprayed in the face with a water hose until he could no longer speak. Benson said he begged the officer to stop.

"I did nothing wrong; I didn't resist arrest, didn't curse and wasn't drunk," Benson told NBC 5.

I wasn't there and don't know what happened. I do, however, work quite often with Austin Police Officers (not Travis County), and this is consistent with behavior I've seen from them on at least a dozen occasions.

I lived in Austin for 4 years and although at this point there is really know way to tell who's side of the story is true, I will say that the LCRA and the Austin PD for that matter have a horrible reputation for abusing their powers. I have personally witnessed both organizations use excessive force and wrongfully imprison people. It would not suprise me at all if this was the case.

I also have personally seen APD (not LCRA) pepper spray many innocent folks over the years...people who just near a fight when it broke out, people who were smartasses, maybe, but in no way physically resisting, and even people who seemed to be honestly doing their dead-level best to cooperate fully. It seems to be a local L.E. mentality to spray first and sort it all out later.

Now I personally think Cedric Bunsen is a total waste of a football player and a fantasy football tool,

I think his heart was indeed special before the head-on collision with big Mike Williams in the Big 12 Championship Game. He's never been the same after that. He has his issues now, for sure, but head injuries can really mess people up.

his side of the story sounds awfully similiar to many incidents that I have seen both out on lake Travis and 6th St. Ask anybody that lives in Austin and they would probably agree with me.

I agree completely with you.For perspective on this, I remember one time a few years ago when my girlfriend was working late on 6th street waiting tables. I went down to pick her up. I'd just park outside and wait for her. One night I was tired so I leaned back the seat and closed my eyes as I listened to some music. A few minutes later I get a tap on the window. Long story short, I told them why I was there. They didn't buy it. They said I'd been drinking. Kept saying "you know you've been drinking", "we know you've been drinking, why don't you just admit it?". They field tested me and everything. I was fine. Hadn't had a single drink, and performed perfectly. They finally relented and it never got physical, but I was also very cooperative. The point, though, is that they were trying to make a case out of nothing on someone who had done nothing wrong at all.

I've had my dim view of some things Ced has done in the past, but this one stinks on the cops' side, imho.

 

[the hairy scotsman]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3385156

A woman who was a passenger in Cedric Benson's boat when he was pepper-sprayed and arrested Saturday night said the Chicago Bears running back did not seem intoxicated and did not resist arrest, according to the Chicago Tribune.

"I called my dad and told him, 'Call 911, my black friend is getting beaten up by police on Lake Travis,' " Cartwright recalled, according to the Tribune. "It's more what I heard than what I saw. I have never heard or seen Cedric that scared."

According to Cartwright, it was the sixth time that a patrol had stopped Benson's boat on Lake Travis in as many outings this year.

According to the report, Cartwright's father, Jeff, called 911 at his daughter's insistence. Unaware she was calling about Benson, he told the dispatcher that police "were beating up a black kid on Lake Travis."

 

[fatness]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-08...,0,610873.story

Cartwright put in writing her version of the events on Lake Travis that resulted in Benson being charged with boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest. She says she is willing to submit her document as evidence supporting his account. She said her fiance also took dozens of photographs that help corroborate her claims.

Cartwright, an English major at the University of Texas who is to graduate later this month, estimated she and her fiance had been boating with Benson six times this spring and each time a Lower Colorado River Authority boat pulled them over for a safety check.

 

[elpasotexan]

You know there are a few laws that I won't really bat an eye about someone running afoul of, and boating while intoxicated is one of them.

But then resisting arrest to where you get pepper sprayed is just idiotic.

It actually bothers me more. If you are Cedric Benson how do you not have Johnny Posse driving the boat? What a maroon

 

[BusterTBronco]

It's nice to see the truth is finally coming out on the Cedric Benson arrest.

Sounds like he is the victim of some racist cops in Texas. (what a surprise)

 

[the hairy scotsman]

It's nice to see the truth is finally coming out on the Cedric Benson arrest.

Sounds like he is the victim of some racist cops in Texas. (what a surprise)

Tom Smykowski: It was a "Jump to Conclusions" mat. You see, it would be this mat that you would put on the floor... and would have different CONCLUSIONS written on it that you could JUMP TO.

Michael Bolton: That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life, Tom.

Samir: Yes, this is horrible, this idea.

Or how 'bout some racist cops anywhere? Or how 'bout just some cops goin' off like loose cannons?

Ummm...Not to hijack, but I've seen the cops be a-holes to every color or shade of people imaginable around here. Just because Ced is black doesn't mean race had a thing to do with it. I myself have been in confrontations with officers with anger management issues. They aren't profiling me. I guarantee that.

Race just generally doesn't mean to Texans (especially in Austin) what people elsewhere and in the media stereotypically think it means to us. In fact, when I travel around the country, and the world, it seems race is far more important elsewhere.

Anyway, when it all comes out in the wash, I'll bet we find out that both sides were acting like idiots.

 

[Addicted2Football]

does anyone know a cop who wasnt a bully in school? now we give them guns and permission to bully people.

 

[Hawk]

Maybe. But he was stopped for "random" safety checks 6 out of 6 times according to the girl in the article. I've had friends boat out there for years and rarely get stopped. Those friends aren't black though.

 

[Caveman_Nick]

It's nice to see the truth is finally coming out on the Cedric Benson arrest.

Sounds like he is the victim of some racist cops in Texas. (what a surprise)

Tom Smykowski: It was a "Jump to Conclusions" mat. You see, it would be this mat that you would put on the floor... and would have different CONCLUSIONS written on it that you could JUMP TO.

Michael Bolton: That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life, Tom.

Samir: Yes, this is horrible, this idea.

Or how 'bout some racist cops anywhere? Or how 'bout just some cops goin' off like loose cannons?

Ummm...Not to hijack, but I've seen the cops be a-holes to every color or shade of people imaginable around here. Just because Ced is black doesn't mean race had a thing to do with it. I myself have been in confrontations with officers with anger management issues. They aren't profiling me. I guarantee that.

Race just generally doesn't mean to Texans (especially in Austin) what people elsewhere and in the media stereotypically think it means to us. In fact, when I travel around the country, and the world, it seems race is far more important elsewhere.

However you slice it, it does sound like there is some History with police in that neck of the woods.http://www.statesman.com/news/mplayer/other/32386

That cop is a real scumbag.

 

[the hairy scotsman]

It's nice to see the truth is finally coming out on the Cedric Benson arrest.

Sounds like he is the victim of some racist cops in Texas. (what a surprise)

Tom Smykowski: It was a "Jump to Conclusions" mat. You see, it would be this mat that you would put on the floor... and would have different CONCLUSIONS written on it that you could JUMP TO.

Michael Bolton: That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life, Tom.

Samir: Yes, this is horrible, this idea.

Or how 'bout some racist cops anywhere? Or how 'bout just some cops goin' off like loose cannons?

Ummm...Not to hijack, but I've seen the cops be a-holes to every color or shade of people imaginable around here. Just because Ced is black doesn't mean race had a thing to do with it. I myself have been in confrontations with officers with anger management issues. They aren't profiling me. I guarantee that.

Race just generally doesn't mean to Texans (especially in Austin) what people elsewhere and in the media stereotypically think it means to us. In fact, when I travel around the country, and the world, it seems race is far more important elsewhere.

However you slice it, it does sound like there is some History with police in that neck of the woods.http://www.statesman.com/news/mplayer/other/32386

That cop is a real scumbag.

Absolutely, that video was sickening, and I rail against APD all the time. Just look earlier in this thread. However, you could find isolated instances of video like that in any major city. Just so you know, Austin's new C.O.P., Art Acevedo, now uses that video as a training tool, showing how NOT to run a traffic stop.

 

[Brewzers]

It's nice to see the truth is finally coming out on the Cedric Benson arrest.

Sounds like he is the victim of some racist cops in Texas. (what a surprise)

Tom Smykowski: It was a "Jump to Conclusions" mat. You see, it would be this mat that you would put on the floor... and would have different CONCLUSIONS written on it that you could JUMP TO.

Michael Bolton: That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life, Tom.

Samir: Yes, this is horrible, this idea.

Or how 'bout some racist cops anywhere? Or how 'bout just some cops goin' off like loose cannons?

Ummm...Not to hijack, but I've seen the cops be a-holes to every color or shade of people imaginable around here. Just because Ced is black doesn't mean race had a thing to do with it. I myself have been in confrontations with officers with anger management issues. They aren't profiling me. I guarantee that.

Race just generally doesn't mean to Texans (especially in Austin) what people elsewhere and in the media stereotypically think it means to us. In fact, when I travel around the country, and the world, it seems race is far more important elsewhere.

However you slice it, it does sound like there is some History with police in that neck of the woods.http://www.statesman.com/news/mplayer/other/32386

That cop is a real scumbag.

Absolutely, that video was sickening, and I rail against APD all the time. Just look earlier in this thread. However, you could find isolated instances of video like that in any major city. Just so you know, Austin's new C.O.P., Art Acevedo, now uses that video as a training tool, showing how NOT to run a traffic stop.

Thank God!

 

[fatness]

Link

Cartwright said after officers initiated a random safety check on the boat, they told Benson they wanted to conduct a field sobriety test, and directed Benson to one of the two police boats at the scene. According to Cartwright, Benson went voluntarily, without stumbling, and that he appeared to her to be fine. Once Benson was aboard the police boat, it detached itself and began drifting away.

At that point, according to Cartwright, the officers who remained on Benson's boat asked who would drive the vessel back to shore if Benson could not return. Officers began administering Breathalyzer tests to others onboard.

It was during those tests that Cartwright said she and the other passengers heard Benson scream. At that point, the boat Benson was aboard had drifted a significant distance away, but Cartwright could see Benson leaning over with his hands behind the small of his back. The witness said she called her father on her cell phone and asked him to call 911 on their behalf.

Eventually, officers directed one of the women on the boat to drive it back to shore, even though she had never driven the boat before. Once they got to shore, the passengers were detained, according to Cartwright, for another 40 minutes before they were allowed to leave.

 

[thayman]

Maybe. But he was stopped for "random" safety checks 6 out of 6 times according to the girl in the article. I've had friends boat out there for years and rarely get stopped. Those friends aren't black though.

I'm not familiar with this area, but is there another lake or something nearby?? If I was getting hassled by the man everytime I went to a particular place I would probably stop going there all together.

 

[the hairy scotsman]

Maybe. But he was stopped for "random" safety checks 6 out of 6 times according to the girl in the article. I've had friends boat out there for years and rarely get stopped. Those friends aren't black though.

I'm not familiar with this area, but is there another lake or something nearby?? If I was getting hassled by the man everytime I went to a particular place I would probably stop going there all together.

Yeah, there's Lake Austin.Very nice lake. For all we know, he uses both. Most people do.

 

[Hawk]

That seems like BS to me. Lake Travis is the most popular lake with the most people and most restaurants, things to do, "scenery", etc. Why should he have to go somewhere else? Maybe the cops should stop hassling people for no good reason instead.

 

[fatness]

I find it odd that this was supposedly a safety check, yet it ended with the officers telling someone else to pilot the boat who had never done so before.

 

[the hairy scotsman]

That seems like BS to me. Lake Travis is the most popular lake with the most people and most restaurants, things to do, "scenery", etc. Why should he have to go somewhere else? Maybe the cops should stop hassling people for no good reason instead.

I dunno if you're replying to me or not, but I agree with you. I didn't say, nor do I believe he should go anywhere else.

 

[FunkyPlutos]

Maybe the cop has the 1.4 in his rookie draft!

 

[bjabrad]

Maybe it's just me but if I had been checked by the lake fuzz the last 6 times I had taken the boat out that I would probably have had a designated driver. Then again, if I thought that there was no way that I would blow over the limit then maybe not. Telling the truth, I can't remember the last time I was out in a boat without a beer. It's kind of the whole reason a lot of people get a boat, so that they can cruise around with friends and enjoy the outdoors while relaxing with a beer. In fact, I'd go so far as to call it a rich part of American culture and tradition.

 

[BusterTBronco]

Maybe it's just me but if I had been checked by the lake fuzz the last 6 times I had taken the boat out that I would probably have had a designated driver. Then again, if I thought that there was no way that I would blow over the limit then maybe not. Telling the truth, I can't remember the last time I was out in a boat without a beer. It's kind of the whole reason a lot of people get a boat, so that they can cruise around with friends and enjoy the outdoors while relaxing with a beer. In fact, I'd go so far as to call it a rich part of American culture and tradition.

I agree. The next time Benson takes his boat out, he needs to have two things--a desginated driver and a video camera.

 

[fatness]

Another eyewitness has emerged to support Benson's claim that he was mistreated.

Toby Patch was at nearby Emerald Point Marina on Saturday night when he claims he saw police "manhandling" Benson after taking the running back off the boat and heading to a squad car. Patch was not one of the 15 people on the boat.

"As they were taking him up the dock, they stopped, he said, 'I am fine, I can continue walking,' and they put their legs behind his knees and knocked him over his knees and started hog-carrying him," Patch told KXAN-TV in Austin.

Near the parking area, Patch says the treatment of Benson worsened.

"They ended up--I don't know why--but laid him on his back, I heard him say, 'Please don't pepper spray me, please don't pepper spray me,'" Patch said. "It was uncalled for, it was ludicrous, no point for it."

Chicago Tribune

 

[DropKick]

Maybe the cop has the 1.4 in his rookie draft!

I really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really like how you think!

 

[Christo]

does anyone know a cop who wasnt a bully in school?

Yes

 

[sholditch]

Is it wrong to hope that the cop in that video is kidnapped and tortured to death?

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3385156

A woman who was a passenger in Cedric Benson's boat when he was pepper-sprayed and arrested Saturday night said the Chicago Bears running back did not seem intoxicated and did not resist arrest, according to the Chicago Tribune.

"I called my dad and told him, 'Call 911, my black friend is getting beaten up by police on Lake Travis,' " Cartwright recalled, according to the Tribune. "It's more what I heard than what I saw. I have never heard or seen Cedric that scared."

According to Cartwright, it was the sixth time that a patrol had stopped Benson's boat on Lake Travis in as many outings this year.

According to the report, Cartwright's father, Jeff, called 911 at his daughter's insistence. Unaware she was calling about Benson, he told the dispatcher that police "were beating up a black kid on Lake Travis."

Why did she call her dad to tell him to call 911. A) she clearly has a phone and could call herself, B) did she really want more cops there? I dont know who you're supposed to call though to report police brutality that is occurring in front of you.

 

[mbuehner]

911's a good choice because its recorded. Of course those recordings sometimes disapear...

 

[Caveman_Nick]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3385156

A woman who was a passenger in Cedric Benson's boat when he was pepper-sprayed and arrested Saturday night said the Chicago Bears running back did not seem intoxicated and did not resist arrest, according to the Chicago Tribune.

"I called my dad and told him, 'Call 911, my black friend is getting beaten up by police on Lake Travis,' " Cartwright recalled, according to the Tribune. "It's more what I heard than what I saw. I have never heard or seen Cedric that scared."

According to Cartwright, it was the sixth time that a patrol had stopped Benson's boat on Lake Travis in as many outings this year.

According to the report, Cartwright's father, Jeff, called 911 at his daughter's insistence. Unaware she was calling about Benson, he told the dispatcher that police "were beating up a black kid on Lake Travis."

Why did she call her dad to tell him to call 911. A) she clearly has a phone and could call herself, B) did she really want more cops there? I dont know who you're supposed to call though to report police brutality that is occurring in front of you.

There was a story in the Austin newspaper that talked about this issue this morning. Apparently her phone was about out of batteries, so she asked them to call.

 

[the hairy scotsman]

Texas Great Earl Campbell Criticizes Benson

I can't argue with anything Earl says there.

Great man, Earl. He doesn't really say too much, but around here, when he has something to say, people stop and listen. Maybe Ced will listen and take it to heart, "unnecessary force" or not.

 

[fatness]

I can't argue with anything Earl says there.

I can. Considering that there are 2 wildly conflicting versions of what went on, and that Benson's version has some verification by at least 2 withness, jumping to the conclusion that Benson made a "dumb mistake" (as Campbell did) may well be a dumb mistake.

 

[Road Warriors]

I can't argue with anything Earl says there.

I can. Considering that there are 2 wildly conflicting versions of what went on, and that Benson's version has some verification by at least 2 withness, jumping to the conclusion that Benson made a "dumb mistake" (as Campbell did) may well be a dumb mistake.

Cmon... Benson should know better than to be a rich black dude on a big boat with a bunch of white hotties down on Travis. Seriously, I tend to believe Ced's story, as this is not uncommon with LE, especially LCRA. The cops can never pull that kind of tail, so this is their retaliation.

 

[sholditch]

I heard "Son do you know why I'm stoppin' you for?"

Cause I'm young and I'm black and my hats real low?

 

[Balance]

Texas Great Earl Campbell Criticizes Benson

I can't argue with anything Earl says there.

Great man, Earl. He doesn't really say too much, but around here, when he has something to say, people stop and listen. Maybe Ced will listen and take it to heart, "unnecessary force" or not.

He's a weird dude imo.

 

[the hairy scotsman]

I can't argue with anything Earl says there.

I can. Considering that there are 2 wildly conflicting versions of what went on, and that Benson's version has some verification by at least 2 withness, jumping to the conclusion that Benson made a "dumb mistake" (as Campbell did) may well be a dumb mistake.

OH, I'm with you in that there are inconsistencies as to whose story of what happened on the boat is true (see my previous posts in this thread). However, I've talked to Earl a few times. He has a lot of inside sources of information in and out of the UT system and in and around Austin. He is someone I consider to be of the most impeccable character and sound judgement. It seems to me he's taking a broader view...that maybe he's not just referring to Ced's boat incident. In other words, maybe he's saying this isn't the first time Ced has embarrassed his Austin/Texas/UT/Bears extended family, and that he needs to check himself.

 

[the hairy scotsman]

Texas Great Earl Campbell Criticizes Benson

I can't argue with anything Earl says there.

Great man, Earl. He doesn't really say too much, but around here, when he has something to say, people stop and listen. Maybe Ced will listen and take it to heart, "unnecessary force" or not.

He's a weird dude imo.

Earl?Earl's not weird.

Earl's as down-home, down-to-earth as they come. If every athlete was like Earl, they'd never be in the news (in a bad way).

 

[fatness]

However, I've talked to Earl a few times. He has a lot of inside sources of information in and out of the UT system and in and around Austin. He is someone I consider to be of the most impeccable character and sound judgement. It seems to me he's taking a broader view...that maybe he's not just referring to Ced's boat incident. In other words, maybe he's saying this isn't the first time Ced has embarrassed his Austin/Texas/UT extended family, and that he needs to check himself.

I am going by the article you linked, which says Campbell is talking specifically about the boating arrest:

Earl Campbell, the 1977 Heisman Trophy winner from Texas, basically agrees with Bears general manager Jerry Angelo that Benson is responsible for putting himself in the wrong place at the wrong time before being arrested May 3. Campbell told the Austin-American Statesman in Thursday's editions that Benson, facing misdemeanor charges of boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest, made a "dumb mistake."

Campbell may well be wrong about what happened in the boating incident.

 

[Christo]

However, I've talked to Earl a few times. He has a lot of inside sources of information in and out of the UT system and in and around Austin. He is someone I consider to be of the most impeccable character and sound judgement. It seems to me he's taking a broader view...that maybe he's not just referring to Ced's boat incident. In other words, maybe he's saying this isn't the first time Ced has embarrassed his Austin/Texas/UT extended family, and that he needs to check himself.

I am going by the article you linked, which says Campbell is talking specifically about the boating arrest:

Earl Campbell, the 1977 Heisman Trophy winner from Texas, basically agrees with Bears general manager Jerry Angelo that Benson is responsible for putting himself in the wrong place at the wrong time before being arrested May 3. Campbell told the Austin-American Statesman in Thursday's editions that Benson, facing misdemeanor charges of boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest, made a "dumb mistake."

Campbell may well be wrong about what happened in the boating incident.

I wonder if Earl ever rode in a boat while he was playing?