Advertisement

Lamar Odom arrested on suspicion of DUI, showing ‘objective signs of intoxication’

Lamar Odom was arrested early Friday morning for suspicion of driving under the influence after California Highway Patrol officers spotted the 14-year NBA veteran driving erratically on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley, according to multiple reports.

TMZ first reported Friday that Odom, 33, had been pulled over "for going too slow — 50 MPH," and that he "did not respond to cops, and drove 3 exits before finally coming to a stop." Richard Winton of the Los Angeles Times cited CHP officials who corroborated that, adding that Odom was observed driving a white Mercedes SUV in a "serpentine manner," and that he showed "objective signs of intoxication and was unable to perform field sobriety tests as explained and demonstrated."

The Los Angeles Times has a copy of Odom's arrest report. View it here.

After the stop, Odom was placed under arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence "of alcohol and possibly drugs" at 3:54 a.m. PT. Just over an hour later, he was booked into jail in Van Nuys, Calif., where he reportedly refused all chemical tests. TMZ reported that his bail has been set at $15,000.

UPDATE: As noted by Us Weekly, Odom will lose his driver's license for one year after refusing a chemical test at the time of his arrest. In keeping with California law, he will be able to reapply at the end of that term by taking a written test.

Odom's whereabouts and physical condition have been the topic of much speculation over the past week, after TMZ alleged that the forward — who last played for the Los Angeles Clippers, and who won two NBA titles and the NBA's 2011 Sixth Man of the Year Award with the Los Angeles Lakers — has been using crack cocaine for at least the past two years and had gone missing for three days.

Odom's agent, Jeff Schwartz, refuted those reports, saying that Odom's wife, Khloe Kardashian, knew exactly where he was and that playing in the NBA for the 2013-14 season was "still very much a part of Lamar's plans." ESPN subsequently reported that Odom had holed up in an L.A. hotel, where several friends were trying to help him deal with "an unspecified drug problem."

How much of all that to believe — the crack talk, the rumors of the dissolution of his marriage, etc. — still remains really unclear. Even in its absence, an arrest for operating under the influence, endangering not only his own life, but those of any other drivers on the road, would be troubling enough; in the context of all the harrowing and disturbing stuff that seems to be surrounding Odom of late, though, it appears to stand as another piece of evidence that his life has gone off the rails in a major way.

A couple of weeks ago, we were hoping Lamar Odom could exorcise whatever demons seem to have completely devastated his NBA career. Now, we'd just really like him to get some kind of help before he hurts himself or someone else, because this all sounds like it's going from bad to worse in a hurry.