Update: Police claim that Damon Arnette hid a pill stuffed with meth inside his sock on the night of his arrest.
Cops stopped the former first-round pick for driving 60 mph in a 45 mph zone, according to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports.
Arnette told police that he had “substance abuse issues in the past,” and the ex-Raider was acting “unusually nervous and talkative,” leading to a K9 being summoned to the scene, per the docs.
A loaded black Glock 20 10mm pistol was found under the passenger seat, according to police. A white and orange capsule with no markings — which Arnette claimed was Adderall — was found inside his left sock, police said, adding that the capsule had been tampered with as if it’d been “manually opened.”
The cops said they opened the pill, found a “white, crystal-like substance,” and tested it on-scene, and found out it was meth.
Former Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Damon Arnette was arrested for the third time in three years — this time in Richardson, Texas.
He was charged with possession of less than a gram of meth as well as unlawful carrying of a firearm, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. This arrest, which occurred at 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 6, was previously unreported, according to Rapoport.
“Our client, at the time of the stop, was unable to provide law enforcement with his prescription for a lawful medication,” Jason Lampert of Salzano, Ettinger, Lampert & Wilson, LLP and Thomas Wynne of Milner Wynne said in a statement to NFL media. “The arrest was predicated on Mr. Arnette being unable to prove the medication was prescribed, had he been able to do so at the time of the stop there would have been no arrest for either the controlled substance of the firearms.
“Our offices are working with the local law enforcement to rectify this matter before any charges are brought by the District Attorney’s office.”
The Raiders drafted Arnette with the 19th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, a pick they received as part of the Khalil Mack trade with Chicago. Arnette played just 11 games over two years with Las Vegas before being cut early into the 2021 season. Arnette was released shortly after reportedly threatening to kill someone over Instagram DMs. The cornerback filmed a video of himself pointing three different guns at the camera repeatedly saying “I will kill you,” to the camera.
Arnette spent time on the Miami Dolphins practice squad later that season, but his contract was allowed to expire. Several days later, the Kansas City Chiefs signed the cornerback to a futures/reserve contract. That was terminated after just nine days because Arnette was arrested in Las Vegas on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, and two counts of possession of controlled substances. Arnette was also arrested in 2023 for possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving on a suspended license.
Arnette was taken seven selections after former Raiders receiver, Henry Ruggs III, who is currently in prison for a deadly high-speed DUI crash.
