Category Archives: 1977
Sojourner, Mike
Charge: Car theft
Arrest Date: October 18, 1977
Franchise: Atlanta Hawks
Age 24
Details: While riding in a taxi, Sojourner began to act erratically, scaring the cab driver to the point that he pulled over and fled the vehicle. Sojourner then drove off in the taxi and was later arrested. He was eventually hospitalized by choice for ‘psychiatric problems.’
King, Bernard
Charge: Marijuana possession, prowling, and resisting arrest
Arrest Date: July 15, 1977
Franchise: New Jersey Nets
Age 20
Details: This was King’s second arrest that week, both since being drafted by the Nets only a month earlier. This time he was arrested after a man told police King had attempted to break into his apartment. He was subsequently found to possess marijuana and resisted arrest. King had previously been arrested twice while in college with the University of Tennessee, and would subsequently be arrested two more times during his playing career.
King, Bernard
Charge: Breaking and entering
Arrest Date: July 10, 1977
Franchise: New Jersey Nets
Age 20
Details: Exactly a month after being drafted by the Nets, King celebrated broke into a University of Tennessee athletics building, a stealing a television. This was the first of four arrests during his professional career, though he had also been arrested twice previously while in college for smoking marijuana, drunk driving, and driving without a license. He would also be arrested a mere 5 days after this for marijuana possession, prowling and resisting arrest.
NBA Crime Library 