Category Archives: Utah Jazz
Polynice, Olden
Charge: Assault and disturbing the peace
Arrest Date: July 23, 2001
Franchise: Utah Jazz
Age 36
Details: For the third time in less than a year, Polynice was arrested in Utah. Unlike the prior two arrests, this one was not for impersonating an officer. While golfing, Polynice was accidentally hit in the arm with a golf ball by another golfer. He then apparently attacked the golfer, punching him in the face and spitting on him. This was the fifth arrest of Polynice’s pro career, and third for assault.
Stevenson, DeShawn
Charge: Statutory rape
Arrest Date: June 19, 2001
Franchise: Utah Jazz
Age 20
Details: As a rookie with the Jazz, Stevenson was arrested after admitting in a taped phone conversation to having consensual sex with a 14 year-old girl in a hotel after a night of drinking. This came less than a year after getting arrested for taking part in a brawl at a high school on the night he was drafted in the first round by the Utah Jazz.
Polynice, Olden
Charge: Impersonating a police officer and disorderly conduct
Arrest Date: December 8, 2000
Franchise: Utah Jazz
Age 36
Details: For the second time in less than two months, Polynice was arrested in Utah for flashing his honorary LAPD police badge at a fellow motorist and pretending to be an officer. This arrest stemmed from an incident in September, when Polynice forced the other driver to stop after getting flipped off, and told the motorist that he was “with the California Sheriff’s Office and I can have you arrested.”
Polynice, Olden
Charge: Impersonating a police officer and disorderly conduct
Arrest Date: October 28, 2000
Franchise: Utah Jazz
Age 35
Details: After being cut off in traffic in Salt Lake, Polynice followed the motorists to their home and confronted them, flashing an honorary police badge he had received from the city of Los Angeles. The motorist took down his license plate number and he was arrested later that day. Less than two months later he would be arrested again for the same offense from an incident that occurred in September.
Stevenson, DeShawn
Charge: Fighting in a public place
Arrest Date: June 28, 2000
Franchise: Utah Jazz
Age 19
Details: Stevenson set an almost unbreakable record for fastest arrest since becoming a pro, getting arrested on the night of the draft for brawling during a high school basketball game. Within several hours after being drafted 23rd in the first round by the Jazz, Stevenson and as many as twenty others participated in the melee.
Wright, Luther
Charge: Disorderly conduct
Arrest Date: January 24, 1994
Franchise: Utah Jazz
Age 22
Details: Police were called on Wright after he began attacking and smashing vehicles along the side of the road in Utah. Once officers arrived, they found Wright swinging a large stick and a leg brace, and were forced to draw their guns when he approached. It was later determined that his meltdown was caused by Ritalin. Wright suffered from mental health issues, which ultimately ended his NBA career.
Drew, John
Charge: Writing bad checks
Arrest Date: May 24, 1985
Franchise: Utah Jazz
Age 28
Details: One year before receiving a lifetime ban from the league for repeated drug offenses, Drew was pinched for writing several bad checks at a Salt Lake grocery store.
King, Bernard
Charge: Forcible sexual assault
Arrest Date: January 1, 1980
Franchise: Utah Jazz
Age 23
Details: At the age of 23, King had already been arrested three previous times since being drafted by the Nets in 1977. King rang in the new year and new decade by allegedly forcing a Salt Lake woman to perform repeated sexual acts on him.
NBA Crime Library 