Former NFL player Vontae Davis was arrested Saturday on DUI charges. Davis, 34, of Southwest Ranches, crashed into a disabled car on the side of the highway, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. (Broward Sheriff's Office, courte)
Vontae Davis, a former NFL player famous for quitting during halftime at a Buffalo Bills game, was arrested on a DUI charge Saturday by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Davis, 34, remained in the Broward Main Jail on Sunday.
Davis, who owns a home in Southwest Ranches, played for the Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts and Buffalo Bills between 2009 and 2018.
Longtime talk show host Andy Slater was the first to report that Davis was charged with crashing into a disabled car on the side of the highway.
“Cops found Davis lying down sleeping on the shoulder of the road,” Slater posted in a Tweet.
Davis was driving south through Hollywood on the Florida Turnpike when his black Tesla rear-ended a bronze Toyota Tundra around 7:47 a.m. on Saturday, Florida Highway Patrol officials said.
The Tundra was parked on the shoulder with a flat tire. The driver of the Tundra, a 59-year-old North Miami man, was standing next to his truck. Hit by his own truck after Davis slammed into it, he was taken to the hospital with injuries.
“Upon approaching Mr. Davis, I noticed that he was laying down on the right shoulder sleeping,” the arresting officer wrote in his report. “While speaking to Mr. Davis about the crash, I noticed that his eyes were bloodshot red. He had to lean on the concrete barrier wall to keep himself sitting upright. With slurred speech Mr. Davis stated that he was not injured.”
The officer asked Davis if he’d been drinking.
“He replied ‘Yes, I had two drinks, two mixed drinks,’” the officer’s report said. “I asked Mr. Davis where he was coming from. He replied with a name of a club. I could not understand the name. I asked Mr. Davis why he was sleeping on the shoulder against the wall. He replied “I was tired.’”
Davis was arrested and charged with DUI after refusing to take standard field sobriety exercises. He also declined to take a breathalyzer test or provide a sample of blood and urine, according to the officer’s report.
Davis remained in the Broward County Jail pending a bond hearing, according to Broward County online records.
Davis owns Vzone, a holistic wellness spa in Oakland Park. The spa’s motto: “Healing comes from within.”
In Buffalo, Davis made headlines in 2018 when he decided to quit during halftime as the Bills took on the Los Angeles Chargers.
“Pulled himself out of the game,” Coach Sean McDermott said at the time. “He communicated to us that he was done.”
A year later, Davis told ESPN: “Most people, when I did what I did, they thought I was literally going insane or something. But I was actually fine. I was totally fine. And I’m totally fine today.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan
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Originally published at Tribune News Service