14 DAY TRIAL // The owner of the Indianapolis Colts, Jim Irsay, has been taken into police custody during the early hours of Monday, March 17, on preliminary charges of driving under the influence and possession of a controlled substance, despite the fact that was boasting he had been sober for years.
The Indianapolis Star reports that Irsay was indeed arrested by police officers in Carmel at 3:07 AM local time because he was operating a vehicle while intoxicated. At the moment, details of the arrest and how it happened are hazy, but police are saying that they are putting together information and they will be coming out with an official statement later today.
The 54-year-old Irsay also got charged with possession of a controlled substance, but so far the substance he was caught handling hasn't been revealed. All that is clear is that, at the moment, the owner is in jail in Hamilton County, Indiana.
There is already a bond set for the club owner, valued at $22,500 (€16,169.6), according to Deputy Bryant Orem with the Hamilton County Sherriff's Department. Irsay is expected to be able to make bail by this afternoon, at which time he'll be released.
The irony of the situation is that James Irsay had claimed a clean life, free from alcohol and even posted a tweet about it, wanting to set the facts straight when several people accused him of alcohol abuse.
The tweet posted on October 21, 2013 read “Actually working,sorry naysayers..I don't drink...haven't in over 15 years..I know when your unhappy or jealous it's easy to b mean-spirited (sic)”
Back in 2002, however, he did admit he had an addiction to pain killers. “After several years of orthopedic operations and procedures, accompanied by long bouts of chronic pain, I became dependent on prescription pain medications,” he said at the time in a statement.
To deal with the said addiction “This summer I sought professional help at a nationally recognized facility located outside Indiana. I have successfully dealt with my dependence and my chronic pain issues,” Irsay continued.
The last time Irsay made local news was when he filed for divorce last November from his wife Meg. They had been married for 33 years but the petition they filed with the Hamilton County courthouse spoke of “an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage of the parties, and the Petitioner requests that the parties' marriage be dissolved.”
When news of the divorce came out, there was speculation that it would end up affecting his ownership of the Colts, but so far, those fears have proven to be unfounded. Irsay still maintains 100% ownership of the Indianapolis Colts which were valued at over one billion dollars by Forbes Magazine.