Charles Barkley was busted for suspicion of drinking and driving early Wednesday in Scottsdale.An officer with an Arizona law enforcement task force that targets drunken driving saw the former African American NBA star with political aspirations to run a stop sign around 1:30 a.m.
Seeking to one day run for governor, the brother who at one time insisted that athletes are not role models declined to submit to a breath test but was given a blood test. The results weren't immediately available.
After Barkley was processed, he was cited and released. He left in a cab, Shuhandler said.
Authoriites said there was nothing remarkable about the 45-year-old Barkley's arrest and that it is customary to release people after they've been arrested on suspicion of DUI."There was nothing unusual about how he was taken into custody," said a spokesperson. "He was treated exactly like we treat anybody else."
Barkley was arrested in Scottsdale's Old Town area, one of the trendiest spots in the Phoenix metro area.
A television commentator for NBA games, the former Auburn player was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame last month.
He played 16 NBA seasons for the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets, and played on the 1992 and 1996 Olympic teams. Barkley was an 11-time NBA All-Star and league MVP in 1993.
Selected one the NBA's 50 greatest players in 1996, he was inducted into the 2006 Basketball Hall of Fame.
CNN/AP