Jacksonville Jaguars edge-rusher and special-teamer Lerentee McCray was arrested in Central Florida by the Fruitland Park Police Department after leading them on a high-speed chase on Sunday. According to records, he was booked into the Lake County Jail of Tavares, Florida just before 8 a.m. EST and released a little before 9:20 a.m. after paying a bond of $5,000.
Jaguars defensive lineman Lerentee McCray was arrested after leading police on a high-speed chase in Central Florida, according to an arrest report. https://t.co/eV0qLSqv8I
— News4JAX (@wjxt4) January 18, 2022
McCray now faces charges of fleeing and eluding police with disregard of safety to persons or property. The charge falls into the second-degree felony category, and the pending free agent is now scheduled for arraignment on Feb. 14. McCray was also cited for speeding in the process after radars picked him up at 80 mph in a 50 mph zone just after 1 a.m. EST on Sunday.
According to the report, an officer picked up McCray at the aforementioned speed in a white Dodge Ram pickup truck. As the officer tried to stop McCray, the report states that he used “an expletive hand gesture using their middle finger” while electing not to stop.
Eventually, a second officer joined the chase and pursued the Dodge truck, too, as it hit speeds up to 100 mph. According to ESPN, they decided to call off the chase as the vehicle was being driven recklessly across multiple lanes.
Eventually, the FPPD was informed by members of the Tavares Police Department that McCray had stopped his vehicle and appeared in an “altered mental status.” That led to him being taken to the hospital, and eventually the Lake County Jail.
According to the police report, McCray was eventually questioned at the hospital by the FPPD officer with who he first was in a chase with and he acknowledged that he was the operator of the vehicle. After a particular question was asked by the officer, McCray specifically responded by saying “Oh that was you? My bad.”
As for the Jags, they said that they’ve been informed of the situation and have no comments to offer at the moment as more information is being gathered.
McCray signed with the Jags in 2017 and has been with the team since, though he did opt out in 2020. He’s mostly been a special teams player while helping out on defense occasionally and has a career total of 75 tackles and four sacks in the process of playing in 84 games.