April 10 (UPI) — Baltimore Ravens legend Terrell Suggs was arrested on charges of threatening and disorderly conduct with a weapon, related to an alleged incident at a Scottsdale, Ariz., Starbucks drive-thru, police said Wednesday.
Scottsdale Police officer Aaron Bolin told UPI on Wednesday that officers arrested Suggs on Tuesday in connection with the incident, which was reported March 10. He was booked into Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Jail on charges of threatening and intimidating and disorderly conduct with a weapon.
Suggs, who was released Wednesday morning, must appear at a scheduled preliminary hearing set for April 29 in Phoenix.
He issued a statement saying he was “not looking for any trouble” and that he feared for his safety during the incident.
According to a probable cause statement from police, the alleged victim of the incident was driving his wife’s vehicle — which featured an active front windshield video and audio camera — and pulled into the Starbucks drive-thru to place an order. A black Range Rover, driven by Suggs, was in front of the victim’s vehicle and backed up in the drive-thru, making contact with the vehicle.
According to the statement, both men exited their vehicles and argued about the incident, before returning to their cars. They later continued to argue before Suggs allegedly reached his left arm out of the open driver’s window of his vehicle and “displayed a black handgun in his left hand,” the police statement said.
The statement also said that Suggs did not point the weapon at the man.
Scottsdale Police officers then pulled over Suggs while he was driving the Range Rover just before 3 p.m. local time Tuesday in Scottsdale, leading to his arrest. A weapon was found in his vehicle, police records show.
“I was in a quiet area of Scottsdale in the middle of the day in a Starbucks drive-thru near my home when an incident happened with a vehicle behind me,” Suggs said in a statement issued by his publicist. “I was getting coffee; I was not looking for any trouble. When the man in the other vehicle escalated the situation, I feared for my safety not knowing what his intentions were.
“Throughout the incident, I was the one who felt in danger, while fearing I would be followed home and for the safety of my family nearby at my residence.”
Suggs, 41, spent 16 of his 17 seasons in the NFL with the Ravens. The seven-time Pro Bowl selection, 2003 Defensive Rookie of the Year, 2011 Defensive Player of the Year and All-Pro won a Super Bowl with the AFC North franchise in 2013.
He spent the 2019 campaign, his final season, with the Kansas City Chiefs and Arizona Cardinals. He won a Super Bowl with the Chiefs that postseason. Suggs, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft, made 244 career appearances.
The legendary pass rusher ranks No. 8 in NFL history in sacks (139), since the statistic became official in 1982. His 132.5 sacks with the Ravens are the most in franchise history.
