Tre Mason, the Los Angeles Rams running back who never reported to the team this past season, was arrested in Florida Tuesday morning on a felony fleeing charge stemming back to an incident in July, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office records.
Mason was released from the county jail on $5,000 bond. ESPN reports that he spent less than an hour in jail, and is facing a third-degree felony charge of fleeing and eluding without regard for others’ safety or property.
According to ESPN, Mason was reportedly at a park the afternoon of July 27 allegedly doing wheelies on an ATV, and when police tried to stop him, he sped past them and fled to his mother’s home in Lake Worth, Fla. He was followed to the home by law-enforcement officials who cited him for operating an ATV on public roads and failing to stop for police.
TMZ posted police dashcam footage that shows the officers going to Mason’s door to serve him the citations. In the video, his mother can be heard telling the officers that Mason is not himself and has not been since after the last season he played. She explains that the family believes he suffered an injury to his brain. She described him as a “22-year-old in a 10-year-old’s mindset.”
Mason’s mother tells the officers that she is glad to see the ATV going away because the family had been trying to discourage him from riding it, to no avail.
“He’s not making good decisions right now,” his mother told the officers.
ESPN reports that Mason’s mother called police July 23 because of his “unusual behavior” and “irrational statements.” That police report indicates that Mason told police that day he was going to “call the White House and we were all going to lose our jobs,” and “the police were responsible for teaching al-Qaida how to fly planes.”
The 23-year-old was excused from the Rams’ offseason training program for personal reasons in June, and on July 30, he was placed on the reserve/did not report list and remained under that designation throughout the regular season.
According to ESPN, in early August, former Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said: “We’ve been in communication with the family. Not Tre, but with the family. The organization’s position, including the league and the players’ association, is to take care of him and help him to get the help that he needs to get through this life crisis that he’s having.”
Read more at ESPN.