ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (WJW) — Dash cam footage was released Monday of Browns running back Kareem Hunt being pulled over for speeding.
A Rocky River police officer pulled Hunt over last Tuesday on 1-90 around 12:30 p.m. Hunt said he was heading to catch a flight.
Kareem is heard several times asking the officer to just give him a traffic ticket. “I just thought it was going to be a smooth, easy, quick drive,” he said.
The 24-year-old can be seen speaking with the officer outside of his car and then walking back to the officer’s vehicle visibly distraught.
The officer smelled weed in the car, according to the report. “I’m gonna search the car, and as long as I don’t find anything in the car, listen; I’m going to give you traffic for speeding and get you out of here,” he said.
Small amounts of marijuana were found in a backpack in the back seat of the car, according to the report. “I promise you I was not smoking in the car at all. It’s not just mine. Officer, I don’t like, that’s not mine, like all mine,” Hunt can be heard saying.
He tells the officer he’s never failed a drug test in the NFL. “Right, but if I were to call down there now and, or they send you for a test, you’re probably going to fail, right?” the officer asked. “I mean, yes, sir. It was off-season. Sorry; I was having a good time,” Hunt responded.
Hunt was cited for speeding but was not charged for the marijuana. That wasn’t the only thing the officer found.
“Clearly, the vodka was in the backseat in the backpack. That stuff like that you shouldn’t have any open container of liquor,” the officer said.
“Even if I was just taking it over to my -” Hunt started to ask.
“Yeah, basically another ticket that we can give you,” continued the officer.
Hunt was suspended for parts of the past two NFL seasons for a violent incident involving a woman at a downtown Cleveland hotel.
“Why would you even risk at this point; I mean, I don’t understand how you would risk taking that chance of potentially screwing up that second opportunity that you got,” the officer said.
Kareem responded by promising the officer he won’t do it again.
FOX 8 asked the Rocky River Police Department why he wasn’t charged.
Lt. George Lichman said like many Ohio departments, they do not charge people for possession of small amounts of marijuana because the state lab cannot yet distinguish between legal hemp and illegal marijuana.
He added that the officer didn’t charge Hunt for the vodka because it was in a previously opened, but sealed container.
“The officer did not detect any indication that Mr. Hunt had been drinking that day, or any indications of impairment, he said.
Kareem could still be charged by the city prosecutor.
