Smed1065
05-29-2007, 10:49 PM
CARLSBAD, Calif. - Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss was arrested early Tuesday for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol.
The 74-year-old Buss was taken into custody shortly before 1 a.m. 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, California Highway Patrol Officer Tom Kerns said.
``Although I was driving only a short distance, it was a bad decision and I was wrong to do it,'' Buss said in a statement issued by the Lakers. ``It was a mistake I will not make again.''
A 23-year-old woman in the vehicle with Buss wasn't arrested, Kerns said.
He said Buss was ``relatively cooperative'' when placed under arrest, and was booked into the Vista jail for investigation of drunken driving and driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or above.
Buss was released around 10:30 a.m., according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department Web site. Kerns said the final results of Buss' blood alcohol test won't be available for about three weeks.
Highway Patrol officers Sal Gutierrez and Julie Cahill administered field sobriety tests using an alcohol screening device, Kerns said.
Lakers spokesman John Black said Buss was in the Carlsbad vicinity because he has a home in north San Diego County. Buss' primary residence is in the Los Angeles suburb of Playa del Rey.
The 74-year-old Buss was taken into custody shortly before 1 a.m. 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, California Highway Patrol Officer Tom Kerns said.
``Although I was driving only a short distance, it was a bad decision and I was wrong to do it,'' Buss said in a statement issued by the Lakers. ``It was a mistake I will not make again.''
A 23-year-old woman in the vehicle with Buss wasn't arrested, Kerns said.
He said Buss was ``relatively cooperative'' when placed under arrest, and was booked into the Vista jail for investigation of drunken driving and driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or above.
Buss was released around 10:30 a.m., according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department Web site. Kerns said the final results of Buss' blood alcohol test won't be available for about three weeks.
Highway Patrol officers Sal Gutierrez and Julie Cahill administered field sobriety tests using an alcohol screening device, Kerns said.
Lakers spokesman John Black said Buss was in the Carlsbad vicinity because he has a home in north San Diego County. Buss' primary residence is in the Los Angeles suburb of Playa del Rey.