By Shayna Jacobs and Nicole Bode
DNAinfo Staff
MANHATTAN — Disgraced Nets star Jayson Williams has been charged with driving while intoxicated after crashing his Mercedes SUV into a tree near the FDR Drive early Tuesday morning, police said.
The NYPD charged the out-of-control former NBA player as he recovered in his Bellevue Hospital bed after allegedly smashing his luxury vehicle on 18th Street near Avenue C around 3:15 a.m., officials said.
Williams allegedly crashed after veering off the northbound FDR exit ramp at 20th Street. Police found Williams, 41, sitting in the passenger seat when they arrived and he told them he hadn't been driving, sources told the Daily News. Witnesses reportedly told police no one else was in the car with him.
Williams refused to take a Breathalyzer at the scene, but police obtained a warrant to test his blood at the hospital, the AP reported.
Williams reportedly suffered cuts to his face and several news outlets said his injuries were more extensive - including a fractured vertebrae in his neck.
Williams' heavily-damaged Mercedes was parked in front of the 13th Precinct house in Gramercy Tuesday. There was a deep gash in the front end and the hood was crumpled. The right side mirror dangled by a wire, the windshield was also severely cracked and the air bag had been deployed.
Williams was scheduled to be retried in New Jersey on reckless manslaughter charges, beginning next week, for allegedly shooting his driver, Costas Christofi, in the chest in 2002. A jury acquitted him on higher charges during his 2004 trial, but reached an impasse on the reckless manslaughter count.
A spokesman for the New Jersey State Attorney General's Office, which is handling the case, declined to comment, citing a court-mandated gag order.
Last year, police used a stun gun to subdue Williams at a Manhattan hotel after a female friend said he was acting suicidal.
He was accused of punching a man in the face at a North Carolina bar, but charges were dropped. He and his wife also divorced last year.
