Jim Irsay cites status as ‘white billionaire’ for 2014 arrest،
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said his 2014 arrest for driving while intoxicated was the result of police bias against him as “a rich white billionaire.” .
Irsay discussed the circumstances of his arrest in a wide-ranging interview with HBO Sports. The longtime Colts owner pleaded guilty in September 2014 to one misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
When asked why he pleaded guilty, Irsay replied, “Just to get it over with.”
“I’m prejudiced because I’m a rich white billionaire,” Irsay said in the interview that aired Tuesday night. “If I’m just an average guy in the neighborhood, I’m not attracted to them, of course not.”
Irsay was asked how he thought his assertion would be received.
“I don’t care what it looks like,” Irsay said. “It’s the truth. … I don’t care what people think about what anything looks like. The truth is the truth, and I know the truth.”
Police in the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel arrested Irsay in March 2014 after he was seen driving slowly, stopping in the roadway and not using a turn signal. Officers said he had trouble reciting the alphabet and failed other field sobriety tests.
Irsay, when asked if the arrest was a “low point” for him, told HBO Sports that he failed field sobriety tests because he had just undergone surgery. hip.
“The arrest was a mistake,” he said. “I had just had hip surgery and I had been in the car for 45 minutes. And what… they asked me to walk in line? Are you kidding me? I can barely to walk.”
HBO Sports asked Irsay to clarify his assertion that he failed sobriety tests because of the hip surgery, not because he was under the influence.
“Yeah, I mean, I’m not saying that, it’s a fact,” he replied.
Police discovered various prescription medications in Irsay’s vehicle along with more than $29,000 in cash. A toxicology report showed Irsay had the painkillers oxycodone and hydrocodone as well as alprazolam, used to treat anxiety, in his system at the time of his arrest.
The Carmel Police Department said in a statement to the Indianapolis Star Tuesday that it was “very sorry to hear” Irsay’s accusation of police bias against him.
“We have a very professional agency made up of officers who strive to protect our community with integrity and professionalism,” Carmel Police Lt. DJ Schoeff wrote in an email to the Indianapolis Star.
Irsay, 64, has spoken publicly on several occasions about his battle with addiction. He told HBO Sports that “addiction and alcoholism are deadly diseases.”
