NBA's Arenas charged with felony gun possession

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas has been charged with a felony in connection with last month's locker room confrontation with a teammate...

TheGrio Staff

Jan 14, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas has been charged with a felony in connection with last month’s locker room confrontation with a teammate.

Arenas was charged Thursday with one count of carrying a pistol without a license.

The charges were filed in D.C. Superior Court in an “information,” a document that generally signals a plea deal.

His lawyer had no immediate comment.

Arenas has said he kept multiple guns in his locker at the Verizon Center. He claims he wanted to keep them away from his children and didn’t know it was illegal.

He says he took them out of the locker on Dec. 21 in a “misguided effort to play a joke” on a teammate.

Arenas has been suspended indefinitely by the NBA.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Police searched for a gun Thursday at the apartment of Washington Wizards guard Javaris Crittenton, but court records show nothing was found.

Crittenton was involved in a spat last month with teammate Gilbert Arenas, who is under investigation by federal and local authorities for possible violations of the strict gun laws in the nation’s capital.

Arlington Police were specifically looking for a silver or chrome colored semiautomatic handgun with a black handle at Crittenton’s apartment. The search warrant indicated police are investigating crimes including brandishing a weapon and violating the District of Columbia’s gun laws.

Crittenton’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, said Crittenton was there during the search, which occurred shortly after 7 a.m.

“It went as smooth as it could have gone,” said Bartelstein, who has previously said Crittenton did nothing wrong.

Crystal Nosal, a spokeswoman for Arlington County Police, declined to discuss any details of the investigation.

Crittenton has been excused by the team from practices and games while authorities investigate a heated exchange that occurred in the Wizards locker room at the Verizon Center in Washington on Dec. 21. Arenas, a three-time All-Star, has said he took unloaded guns out of his locker in a “misguided effort to play a joke” on a teammate. Crittenton, meanwhile, has kept a low profile and has not commented on reports that he brandished a gun during the confrontation.

League officials have said the locker-room incident stemmed from a card-game dispute between Arenas and Crittenton on a plane trip back from the West Coast two days earlier.

At least seven Wizards players and coach Flip Saunders have been questioned in the case, which is being heard by a grand jury.

Arenas has been indefinitely suspended by NBA commissioner David Stern.