Robert Whaley Arrested With Marijuana In Butt

Mendoza Line · #1 03-12-2010, 06:12 PM

Not sure if this goes here or NBA thread, but it seems like more of a Main Street story.

SALT LAKE CITY — A former Utah Jazz player who had a warrant out of Michigan was arrested Friday in Salt Lake County.

After Robert Antwon Whaley was arrested and while he was being searched to be booked into jail, officers found several bags of marijuana he was "holding between his buttocks," according to jail documents.

The incident began about 4:30 a.m. outside an apartment complex near 3900 South and 700 West. Gang detectives were doing extra surveillance in the area because of a recent rash of criminal activity, said Unified Police Lt. Don Hutson. A vehicle with its lights off and several people inside was spotted parked nearby, and officers questioned the occupants.

The rear passenger said his name was Kareem Johnson, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report. A detective on the scene, however, recognized the man as a former Utah Jazz player. Upon further investigation, investigators determined the man was Whaley.

Whaley was selected by the Jazz in the 2005 draft despite a history of legal trouble in college.

Another version from a different paper:

It is not uncommon for a former professional athlete to be arrested for drug possession, but Robert Whaley has found a new twist on an old pastime. The former Jazz center, who was wanted for probation violation in Michigan, was arrested in Salt Lake County, Utah with "marijuana in his buttocks," according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

The police report notes that Whaley was storing "several baggies" in the unusual location. As of the article's publication, he remained in jail.

This is not Whaley's first encounter with the law. In 2005, he was cited for giving false names to the police and the Tribune notes that he was convicted in 2008 for maintaining a drug house.