Troubled former NBA star Jayson Williams reportedly fractured his neck in an alleged drunken car wreck in Manhattan yesterday.
Williams smashed his Mercedes SUV into a tree at East 18th street and Avenue C near Stuyvesant Town shortly after 3 a.m. He was charged with drunk driving at his hospital bed at Bellevue. He was not paralyzed, according to reports.
Williams allegedly shifted over to the passenger seat after the crash and told police someone else had been driving then refused to take a Breathalyzer test, according to reports. Witnesses told the police they had seen him in the driver’s seat, the New York Post reported.
Williams, a center for the Nets who retired in 2000, still faces reckless manslaughter charges for shooting limo driver Costas Christofi in 2002. Last month, Williams’ attorneys asked a judge to withdraw from the case. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Monday.
In April 2009, he was Tasered and hospitalized after becoming violent when police responded to a call that he was suicidal at a hotel in Battery Park.
One month later, he was arrested and charged with assault after a fight outside a North Carolina nightclub. The charges were later dismissed.
