Minneosta Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen, who was drafted in the fourth round out of USC in the 2010 NFL draft, was arrested Monday near the USC campus. Griffen, who was on campus Monday visiting USC Trojans players and coaches, was reportedly tased and taken into custody by the LAPD after a traffic stop. Per the Daily Trojan:
Police officers were performing a traffic stop at the intersection of 30th and Hoover Streets when they pulled Griffen over. He did not have an I.D. on him and became aggressive when questioned by officers, according to an LAPD spokesperson. Griffen attempted to run away and then assaulted one of the officers who was pursuing him. The officers tased Griffen, then arrested him on a charge of felony battery.
In his rookie season with Minnesota, Griffen played in 11 games, mostly on special teams, and recorded four tackles. According to Judd Zuglad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Griffen was in line to compete for a starting defensive end job next season, with both Ray Edwards and Brian Robison expected to depart via free agency.
Several news stories mentioned Griffen's citation for a noise violation by Nantucket police in July 2009 as a previous run-in with the law, but it seems to me quite a stretch to connect the dots to being too loud and committing felony battery. As far as we know, this is Griffen's first serious run-in with the law. Christopher Gates of the Daily Norseman had the best line regarding this story, saying of Griffen, "With a slightly faster 40-time, he may have gotten away."
For more news on this story, be sure to read Conquest Chronicles and the Daily Norseman.