Former Man Utd now DC United player blames his behaviour on sleeping pills
Footballer Wayne Rooney, pictured in his booking photo after his arrest on public intoxication and swearing charges in the US before Christmas, which Rooney has blamed on sleeping pills.
The former Manchester United player, who now plays for US team DC United, was arrested and charged on 16 December. According to Virginia court records, Rooney was fined $25 and had to pay $91 costs.
Rooney, who is 15 months into a drink-driving ban in the UK, was released without bail in the US. In a statement released by his spokesman to the Press Association, the footballer said he had been left “disorientated” by prescribed sleeping tablets he took on a flight while drinking.
“Wayne Rooney was arrested and detained at Dulles airport following a long flight from Saudi Arabia after a one-day promotional business trip,” the statement said.
“During the flight Wayne took a prescribed amount of sleeping tablets mixed with some alcohol consumption and consequently was disorientated on arrival. He was approached by police who arrested him on a minor misdemeanour charge. He received a statutory automatic fine and was released shortly afterwards at the airport. The matter is now at an end. Wayne would like to put on record his appreciation for the manner he was treated by all involved.”
A spokesman for Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office had earlier said: “He was booked into the Loudoun County Adult Detention Centre on 16 December 2018, on a charge of public intoxication stemming from an arrest by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police (MWAA). “He was later released on a personal recognisance bond.”
