College Football

Former Tennessee linebacker Johnson arrested on DUI charge

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:24 a.m. ET

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) A.J. Johnson, the former Tennessee linebacker who is awaiting an aggravated rape trial, has been arrested on a DUI charge.

Knoxville police said Johnson was charged with a DUI and cited for simple possession early Saturday.

Police say they stopped Johnson at 1:26 a.m. when his car failed to proceed through an intersection after a traffic light turned green twice. According to the police report, Lt. Mark Fortner went toc check on the situation when Johnson's Chevy Tahoe rolled forward and struck a lane indicator sign.

Police said the 25-year-old Johnson had bloodshot eyes with alcohol on his breath and a marijuana cigarette next to him. Police said field sobriety tests were performed before an arrest was made.

Johnson, who played for Tennessee from 2011-14, was indicted along with former Volunteers defensive back Michael Williams in February 2015 on aggravated rape charges. A woman told police that Johnson and Williams raped her during a party at a Knoxville apartment in the early Nov. 16, 2014.

The rape charges against Johnson and Williams are still pending. Their case been delayed by a debate over whether defense lawyers can obtain social media communications from witnesses, including the woman who says Johnson and Williams raped her.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in April that defense attorneys could issue subpoenas in an attempt to obtain those social media communications. The state has appealed that ruling to the Tennessee Supreme Court.