Maryland Running Back Wes Brown Was Questioned By Police--And Arrested for Assaulting Detective--Because His Vehicle Was Allegedly Involved in a Shooting

Wes Brown, a sophomore running back for the University of Maryland, was arrested and charged with second degree assault, theft, and wiretapping last Wednesday night. Yes, wiretapping, which is a result of recording a conversation with a police detective with a cell phone borrowed from another student. The theft charge arises because Brown then tried to punch the detective who was trying to get him to come in for questioning, and shoved him before fleeing with the cell phone in his possession.

The reason for the detective’s interest in speaking to Brown in the first place? According to the Baltimore Sun, it is because Brown’s vehicle is linked to a non-fatal shooting in Baltimore. “The probable cause statement, filed in District Court here, says that Baltimore police detective Bradley Hood ‘stated that [Brown’s vehicle] was the vehicle that was involved in the shooting.’”

The Sun also provides new details on the arrest last Wednesday. Detective Hood saw Brown’s vehicle in a parking lot and blocked it in with his unmarked police car while he waited for a tow truck. The detective then talked to Brown about coming back to headquarters for questioning about the shooting incident. Brown responded “why can’t you question me here?” Brown also approached two other students and asked to borrow a cell phone, because his was dead, so “he could record the police so they couldn’t frame him.”

When police tried to detain him, he allegedly took a swing at the officer and shoved him before going on a foot chase through the Maryland campus, where he was eventually detained and handcuffed.

[photo via USA Today Sports Images]