San Jose police arrested 49ers outside linebacker Aldon Smith on suspicion of crashing his black pickup truck into a tree early Friday morning as he was allegedly driving while under the influence of alcohol. Jail officials also said that he was booked in connection with possessing an unknown amount of marijuana.
Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area first reported the news.
Police Sgt. Heather Randol told NBC Bay Area that the 23-year-old Smith was "over the limit," but she did not specify by how much. She also said Smith, who was in the pickup by himself, was not injured and was "cooperative."
In fact, Smith was on the field at the 49ers' practice facility in Santa Clara Friday afternoon, Maiocco reported.
"I expect Aldon to be back at work and play on Sunday,” 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh said at the team’s previously scheduled press conference Friday afternoon.
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A neighbor called police to report the accident about 7 a.m. in the 2500 block of Bentley Ridge Drive, where homes are in the $1-million-or-more range. Randol said she didn't know where Smith was heading from or going to. NBC Bay Area learned that fellow 49er Ray McDonald, 29, lives on the same street, a half a block away. No one was home at McDonald's home early Friday afternoon.
Another neighbor, who lives across the street from the accident, told NBC Bay Area she saw him yank up a black hoodie over his head as about ten police cars flooded the scene to take him into custody.
Skid marks from the crash left black streaks on a neighbor's driveway and sidewalk, and a tree by the curb was chipped by the impact of the crash.
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The All-Pro player is currently the defendant in two civil lawsuits, and he's coming off another DUI-related arrest in South Florida. His civil attorney told NBC Bay Area he was not representing Smith in this matter and it was not immediately clear who was representing him in this case.
In a statement released Friday morning, the team said: "The 49ers organization is aware of the matter involving Aldon Smith. As we continue to gather information regarding this situation, we will have no further comment." A spokesman for the NFL told CSN Bay Area in a brief email that Smith's case was under review of the League's "substances of abuse policy."
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Smith's car crashed in San Jose's Silver Creek neighborhood about eight miles from where the 49ers has a home on Higuera Highland Lane in the eastern San Jose foothills. (See map below).
Smith was released from Santa Clara County jail before noon on Friday after he posted the $5,250 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 4.
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Smith has been the focus of two lawsuits in the last month related to a party at his home on Higuera Highland Lane.
Two men sued Smith after they were were injured in June 2012 during a shoot-out as a massive party was breaking up. Smith and Delanie Walker, a former 49er who now plays for the Tennessee Titans, were allegedly drunk and hopped on the balcony to end the party, firing off their weapons, the suit claims. The guests say they were hurt in the crossfire. Neither suit claims Smith or Walker as the shooter, however.
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This is not Smith's first DUI-related offense. In January 2012, Smith was arrested in Miami Beach on another DUI-related charge, though it was reduced to reckless driving under a first-time offender program.
Smith is a star of the 49ers' defensive line. Last year was a break out season for Smith. He was on pace to break an all-time NFL sack record, but was slowed by a shoulder injury.
He had surgery over the off-season. After two games this season he already has three sacks.
Smith was drafted by the 49ers seventh overall in the 2011 NFL Draft. He grew up in suburban Kansas City and played college ball for the University of Missouri.
(MAP: B represents where he was arrested. A is the general area of his home.)
Common Denominator - Alcohol, by Tony Kovaleski
During the past 20 months the Niners former first round pick has been arrested twice for DUI and stabbed at a house party at his home in the foothills east of San Jose.
That party ended in gunfire. Two party goers were shot and two civil lawsuits naming Smith followed.
“When you look at Aldon Smith’s situation there’s one common denominator to all these incidents, and that is excessive use of alcohol,” Steve Clark NBC Legal analyst said.
The police reports detail Smith’s two DUI arrests. One comes from Miami beach in January of last year. One of the civil suits that followed the shooting at his house said Smith consumed significant quantities of alcohol, was legally intoxicated and his judgment was severely impaired.
“The DUI arrest was the best thing for the plaintiffs that could have ever happened, because they need to show that Aldon Smith was out of control on the night of the party and that the premises were out of control on the night of the party, and Exhibit A in the plaintiff's case is a DUI at 7 o'clock in the morning,” Clark said.
NBC Bay Area's Tony Kovaleski and Shawn Murphy contributed to this report.
