Welcome to Arrest Stories. A Los Angeles Chargers offensive lineman with a troubled recent past was arrested in Georgia on misdemeanor charges, setting off a chain of events that would cost him his roster spot. Heres what may have happened.
On July sixteen, twenty twenty-six, twenty-seven-year-old offensive guard Ben Cleveland was arrested in Oconee County, Georgia. According to Oconee County Sheriff records, Cleveland was booked into the county jail at approximately ten in the morning and released at eleven fifty-five that same morning, less than two hours later.
Cleveland faced two misdemeanor charges: speeding and violating the conditions of a limited driving permit. Bond was set at two hundred and fifty-three dollars for the speeding charge and nine hundred and seventy-one dollars for the permit violation, totaling one thousand two hundred and twenty-four dollars. Both cases remain open in probate court.
The limited driving permit violation was directly tied to restrictions imposed following an earlier DUI case. On February twelve, twenty twenty-five, Cleveland had been pulled over in Milledgeville, Georgia, after a Baldwin County sheriffs deputy observed his black Ford F-two-fifty weaving between lanes on Log Cabin Road. Cleveland told the deputy he had consumed approximately three or four beers at a country club before driving. Breath tests measured his blood alcohol concentration at zero point one seven eight during the traffic stop and zero point one six one at the Baldwin County Jail, both above Georgias legal limit of zero point zero eight. He was charged with driving under the influence and failure to maintain a lane.
Cleveland later pleaded guilty to the DUI charge. The NFL subsequently suspended him for three games on December eighth, twenty twenty-five, for violating the leagues Substances of Abuse Policy. He remained on the Baltimore Ravens roster until January first, twenty twenty-six, when the team released him.
The Chargers then signed Cleveland to a one-year, one point two one five million dollar deal, giving him an opportunity to continue his career. He had spent five seasons with Baltimore, appearing in sixty-four regular season games with seven starts after being selected by the Ravens in the third round of the twenty twenty-one NFL Draft.
During that same turbulent stretch, Cleveland filed for divorce from his wife, Kaitlyn Terrell Cleveland, on February twenty-eighth, twenty twenty-five, in Baldwin County, Georgia. According to TMZ, he filed the divorce because of adultery. Kaitlyn Terrell Cleveland insisted the claims were knowingly false, alleging they were made in bad faith, and vehemently denied them. She also said she hoped she and Cleveland could come to an agreement to resolve all matters and controversies surrounding their split.
The Los Angeles Chargers cut Cleveland on Monday, just over a week after the July sixteenth arrest. Neither the Chargers nor the NFL publicly commented on the arrest.
All suspects presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Do not take this report as factual, always verify facts. Thanks for watching Arrest Stories.