Aldon Smith of the San Francisco 49ers was arrested again on Thursday night for a hit and run incident. According to police in Santa Clara, California, he was driving under the influence and he was also charged with vandalism. Smith was booked and sent to Santa Clara County jail. He is held on $26,000 bond before his release on Friday, according to ESPN.
This is the third arrest of the 25-year-old troubled linebacker. "He [Smith] was on a track and he was making good decisions," a 49ers team source told ESPN.
"But I'll say one thing, there shouldn't be a rush to judgment. We need to figure out what happened and not go into a instant panic. There is usually much more to a story. Let's not overreact and say his career with the 49ers is over just yet."
Earlier in January 2012, Aldon Smith, the San Francisco 49ers talent, was arrested on suspicion of DUI. This charge was later reduced to reckless driving. In the same year, he faced three felony weapons charges. Smith pleaded not guilty, and the weapons charges were later reduced, as reported by ESPN.
Smith was arrested and charged with DUI again in September 2013 after a car accident. He missed 5 games during that season after he voluntarily entered rehab.
In August 2014, Smith was suspended for the first nine games of last season for violating the NFL's personal-conduct and substance-abuse policies. This was in connection to the 2013 drunken-driving arrest, the ESPN report said.
The 49ers GM Trent Baalke said on Tuesday that he wants the team to re-sign Aldon Smith to the San Francisco 49ers. But the latest arrest might change their minds.
"Aldon's like any young player. He's growing up, he's maturing, Baalke said in a report by ESPN." "You see that with a lot of these guys. Some of them get themselves in a few more situations that you wish they didn't ... [but I'm] really pleased with the way he's handled things, the way he's working both personally and professionally. I think he's doing an outstanding job. He's always been a great teammate. He's always had an excellent work ethic. Those are things he's even stepped up".
He added, "the player is in his contract year and expected him to have a good year. We're going to work hard to make sure that he remains here."
Smith had restructured his $9,754,000 salary into a series of bonuses in March 2015. For each game, he will make $322,150 maxing out at $5,154,400, according to ESPN.
