Javarris James Arrested

Former NFL running back and Immokalee football star Javarris James was arrested by Collier County sheriff's deputies on Monday afternoon on a warrant out of Hillsborough County.

James, 26, was wanted for failing to appear in court for a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge, according to an arrest report. He has since posted a $1,500 bond.

The case stems from an early morning arrest on Sept. 29 in Tampa, when police reported finding 1.3 grams of pot in the sunglasses holder of James' 2011 Chrysler 300, according to an arrest report. Police pulled James over for having an invalid tag, and smelled marijuana inside the car.

James told a police officer that he and two friends, who were passengers in the car, had smoked pot while on the way to the AJA Channelside nightclub, reports said. He said he was not aware the marijuana was inside the sunglasses holder, or they would have smoked it, too.

Police also found an open liquor bottle in the car.

Calls to James' cell phone and a phone number listed in the police report were not immediately returned Tuesday.

James was previously arrested in March 2013 for failure to appear in court for a hearing related to a June 2011 arrest on a marijuana possession charge. The March arrest came less than a month after the NFL announced James was suspended for four games for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

"It disappoints me," said John Weber, who coached James in high school. "He never got in trouble in high school. He was always one of the hardest workers."

Weber said he had hoped James would learn from his first arrest in 2011. Weber was the coach in 2004 when Immokalee won a state championship led by James, then a junior. The former Indians coach said he hasn't spoken to James since seeing him at an Immokalee High School football game this past fall.
"I know he's not a bad kid," Weber said, "but when you don't see someone for a long time, things change."

James is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2010 after starring at the University of Miami. He is the younger cousin of former Colts and Immokalee star Edgerrin James.

During Edgerrin James' youth football camp in Ave Maria in July, Javarris James told the Daily News he was trying to recover from his mistakes. That included trying to get back into the NFL. At the time he we was working out in Naples to make sure his knee was fully recovered from an ACL tear a year prior.

"I messed up in the past. I accept that," James said at the time. "I'm just trying to be right."

As a rookie in 2010, Javarris James scored six touchdowns in 10 games for the Colts, but was out of the league the next year following the first marijuana arrest. He signed with the Arizona Cardinals prior to the 2012 season, but tore his ACL in the final preseason game.


(naplesnews.com)