Damien Berry jailed in Florida

Former Ravens reserve running back Damien Berry is in a Florida jail and is facing outstanding warrants in Maryland on charges of writing a worthless check for over $100,000 and unauthorized removal of property, according to Florida and Maryland court records.

The unauthorized removal of property involves Berry taking a car, according to a jail official.

Berry remains in the Lee County Jail in Ft. Myers, Fla., on the warrants and hasn't signed a letter of extradition, jail officials told The Baltimore Sun, but will eventually be extradited, according to a jail official.

He was arrested on the warrant Monday morning. Berry faces no new charges in Florida.

Berry also has active cases in Maryland for driving on a suspended license and failure to appear, failure to display license on demand and failure to appear and failure to pay child support and failure to appear.

Prior to being released by the Ravens two years ago, Berry was arrested by Baltimore County police on a failure to appear warrant stemming from a charge of driving with a suspended license.

The former University of Miami player was pulled over in his 2010 BMW by Howard County police on Jan. 24, 2013 at 1:06 a.m. for driving 63 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone.

The native of Belle Glade, Fla., was cited for speeding as well as driving with a suspended out-of-state license, driving on an expired license and failure to display license on demand.

Berry spent the 2012 season on injured reserve after being on the Ravens' practice squad as a rookie two years ago.

He sold his Super Bowl XLVII ring last year and it was later auctioned off by Goldin Auctions. He told The Sun that he didn't sell his ring, but notarized documents told a different story.

Ken Goldin, the founder of Goldin Auctions, two years ago said that Berry and witness Brian Levine went to a Wells-Fargo bank in Florida to have the sales contract notarized. Goldin said that Berry displayed his driver's license to an authorized, licensed notary before being given two cashier's checks that the NFL player then cashed at the bank.

A copy of one cashier's check in the amount of $10,000 from Wells-Fargo made out to Berry was emailed to The Sun. The documents show that the purchase agreement was signed and executed on Aug, 30, 2013.

Goldin said that the ring was later sold to an undisclosed third party, which then consigned it to Goldin Auctions.

"We feel like our credibility has been questioned by Damien, and I feel like he's injuring the sale of the ring," Goldin said. "We wanted to set the record straight and assure the winning bidder on the ring to know that we have full authorization to sell the ring and they will own it clear and unencumbered.

"I don't know why Damien is doing this, but I can only imagine that Damien is embarrassed. You don't see [former Ravens linebacker] Jamie Sharper saying anything. As a business owner, I'm obligated to defend our business practices."

Berry told The Sun at the time that a friend put the ring up for sale without his knowledge to an undisclosed third party, which then sold it to Goldin Auctions.

"I would never knowingly sell my Super Bowl ring," Berry said. "I'm not that kind of guy. That's not me. The ring means a lot to me and I want to do whatever it takes to get it back. This isn't what I'm about."

Since being cut by the Ravens, Berry hasn't played for another NFL team.

"This isn't a good look, I know that, but I swear this didn't start with me," Berry said. "I have a lawyer who's working with me to try to get the ring back. I was shocked when people starting coming at me on Twitter about what's up with my Super Bowl ring. It's definitely upsetting, but everything will be all right."


(baltimoresun.com)