PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Chicago Bears wide receiver Byron Pringle was arrested Saturday after a Florida Highway Patrol troopers caught him doing donuts on a suspended license with a child in the back seat, arrest documents say.
Arrest documents say the 28-year-old NFL player was doing “a donut” in his Orange 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. Troopers say he was driving on State Road 56 in Pasco County, which is north of Tampa, around 6 p.m. A trooper saw a cloud of smoke created by Pringle’s driving, which “reduced the visibility to nearly zero” for drivers in the westbound lanes, the documents say.
After troopers stopped Pringle and asked for his documents, they say they saw a child in one of the rear seats. When authorities ran Pringle’s driver’s license, they discovered it was suspended.
When the trooper told Pringle he was arrested for reckless driving, Pringle allegedly ignored verbal commands and became “verbally confrontational.”
Pringle was placed under arrest approximately 15 minutes after the traffic stop, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
Pringle was transported to the Pasco County Jail and charged with reckless driving and driving while license suspended or revoked.
Pringle, who is from Florida, signed a one-year contract with the Bears last month. He also played four years for the Kansas City Chiefs.