Apparently, the Atlanta Falcons’ Michael Turner went out after the team’s 27-21 victory over the Denver Broncos Monday night and had a few celebratory cocktails. Quite a few, in fact, as around 4 a.m. Turner was stopped by police and arrested on driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding.
Turner was stopped in Gwinnett County, a suburb just north of Atlanta and jailed there. Turner, 30, who lives in nearby Suwanee, close to the team’s training facility, was booked into the jail just after 5 a.m., and was released about two hours later on $2,179 bond, according to jail records.
The runniGwinnett police Cpl. Edwin Ritter said a DUI Task Force officer stopped Turner’s Audi R8 for going 97 mph in a 65 mph zone on I-85 northbound near Indian Trail Road just after 4 a.m.
“The officer could smell an odor of alcoholic beverage coming from the driver and a proceeded to conduct a DUI investigation,” Ritter said in an e-mail. “During the course of the investigation, the officer developed probable cause to charge Mr. Turner with DUI and speeding.”
The Falcons released a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
“We are aware of the situation involving Michael and are in the process of gathering more information. Because this is now a legal matter, the club will have no further comment at this time.”
Turner, who played college ball at Northern Illinois, played for the San Diego Chargers from 2004 through 2007, and joined the Falcons in 2008.
In Monday night’s game, Turner scored the Falcons’ first touchdown after jumping over a pileup of Atlanta and Denver linemen in the first quarter. It was Turner’s 51st touchdown for the Falcons, a franchise record. He also had a huge first down run inside of two minutes when Denver was desperate to get the ball back.
He came to Atlanta in 2008 after four seasons with the San Diego Chargers. Last year, Turner rushed for 1,340 yards and 11 touchdowns.
