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Jayson Williams Arraigned from Hospital Via Live Video
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 7, 2010
Modified Jan 7, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 7, 2010
Modified Jan 7, 2010
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[UPDATE BELOW] Former Nets player Jayson Williams is being arraigned on drunk driving charges this morning from his bed in Bellevue, where he's being treated for injuries sustained in his Tuesday morning car crash. The arraignment will be broadcast live into Manhattan Supreme Court via a camera setup in his room, and if there's any justice in this world someone will have the good sense to leak it to TMZ. (Or [email protected]!) Though it was originally reported that Williams's injuries were minor, he did chip a bone in his neck when he crashed his Mercedes-Benz SUV into a tree at the FDR exit at East 20th Street. Sources tell TMZ that Williams is "in and out of consciousness," which doesn't really sound all that different from his usual condition.
First responders to the accident found Williams in the passenger seat, and he told officers the driver had fled the scene. But witnesses say they saw Williams behind the wheel, and surveillance video doesn't show anyone leaving the Benz. Investigators believe Williams had been drinking, but the former basketball player refused a breathalyzer test, NY1 reports. Not helpful to Wiliams's defense are these photos supposedly showing him partying with college kids at the Upper East Side bar Aces & 8s on Monday night. One of the bros in the photos claims he bought Williams at least 3 shots of Jameson, but those were probably just for the driver.
UPDATE: A witness told cops that Williams was "bleeding from his face and... had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath," according to the criminal complaint obtained by the Daily News. The report also says Williams swerved across four lanes of oncoming traffic before exiting the FDR and slamming into the tree at the corner of Avenue C and East 20th Street. And now we really want to see a copy of this video arraignment—Williams was reportedly wearing a neck brace and a patch over his right eye this morning.
But City Room reports that it was a band-aid, not a patch, and that an hour and a half after the accident, Williams told a police officer, "I’m sorry for causing trouble." Judge Melissa C. Jackson set bail at $10,000; if convicted Williams faces up to a year in prison.
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Arraignment
benz
crash
jayson williams
nyc
suv
video
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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