Ty Lawson charged with drinking, driving

CHAPEL HILL -- North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson was arrested today and charged with driving after consuming alcohol, violating a local noise ordinance and driving with a revoked license.

Chapel Hill police officer C. Shehan arrested Lawson, 20, at 2:33 a.m. on North Columbia St., in the heart of town. The officer stopped Lawson, who was alone in a 2005 four-door Chevrolet with Maryland plates, after hearing loud music coming from the car, said police Capt. Chris Blue.

Shehan suspected that Lawson had been drinking, conducted a field sobriety test and found probable cause to charge him with the misdemeanors, Blue said. State law prohibits anyone under 21 from driving after drinking any amount of alcohol.

Lawson was given a Breathalyzer test, said police Capt. Jackie Carden. The arrest and incident reports did not disclose the Breathalyzer reading, but Carden said it must have been below .08 or Lawson also would have been charged with DWI.

Lawson was taken into custody, processed and released on a written promise to appear in court July 8.

He had no comment when he was contacted by phone this morning. In an e-mail, a UNC-Chapel Hill athletics spokesman said Coach Roy Williams will not comment on the arrest until Lawson's case goes through the legal process.

Lawson was convicted Sept. 14 of speeding 80 mph in a 65 mph zone in Granville County and Aug. 31 of speeding 70 mph in a 55 mph zone in Durham County, court records show.

State Division of Motor Vehicle records indicate that he failed to appear in court on several occasions.

He also was charged with speeding 68 mph in a 45 mph zone in Wake County in May 2007 but failed to come to court, according to court records.

Lawson, a sophomore, averaged 12.7 points for the Tar Heels, who advanced to the Final Four last season. He is one of three UNC players who entered their names into the NBA draft, but he did not hire an agent, leaving open the possibility that he will return to school. He has until June 16 to pull his name out of the draft and has been working out for NBA teams to judge where he would be taken.

Contacted early this morning, a team spokesman did not know of the arrest report and had no immediate comment.