On December 30, 2008, Charles Barkley hosted a party, accommodating around four hundred people. Booze filled up the scene and tabs started to go in four figures pretty quickly. Chuck also had one too many and then went on for a drive during the wee hours following the party.
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Barkley had missed a stop sign in his inebriated state. East Valley DUI Task Force Officer Pete Smith noticed a black Infiniti QX56 violated the traffic norm. As a trained officer, it didn’t take him long to stop the vehicle. After he entered the vehicle, he recognized that it was Charles Barkley he had stopped. He could feel the odor of vodka clearly and Chuck knew that he couldn’t get away anymore.
The 76ers legend gave his version of events in the foreword of Tim Colishaw’s 2013 book Drunk on Sports. He wrote, ”There were three or four cars in a line and I was the fourth car. We all slow-rolled through a stop sign and when I did it, the flashing lights came on and the cop cars came out of the woodwork.”
The most fascinating part of the story is that he reached out to David Levy, TNT’s Sports President. By that time, the former Suns athlete had already spent more than eight years with the channel. Levy, who was sleeping at that time, picked up the call and wished Chuck a Happy New Year. To which Barkley replied, ”Oh, I fu*#ed up. I’m at the police station. I was arrested.”
After the call, Levy straightaway went to the popular sports website Deadspin. He wanted to know if the news of the arrest had been made public. Barkley’s story was termed a “fascinating read” by the website. The smile, bloodshot eyes, and water eyes of a half-shaven Barkley indeed are the stuff that could have broken the internet today.
Charles Barkley was notorious during his playing days
Trouble with the law preceded the incredible athlete’s playing. In 2022, during Inside the NBA, he admitted, ”I want to make it clear I was wrong. I have been arrested I think four times for hitting fans.”
He kept reiterating that he was wrong for those acts but instead of a lengthy court battle, he settled out of the court. He doesn’t trust the American judicial system so he used his money to settle things.
While he did engage in extraordinary violence against fans several times in his career, he felt relieved that no one was severely hurt. However, he does regret his actions.
