Report: Fairley arrested on marijuana charges

Published Apr. 3, 2012 5:20 p.m. ET

foxsports

Defensive lineman Nick Fairley on Tuesday became the third Detroit Lions player in the past three months to be arrested on charges of marijuana possession.

He joins running back Mikel Leshoure and offensive tackle Johnny Culbreath with recent run-ins with the law.

Fairley was arrested on charges of second-degree marijuana possession Tuesday afternoon in his hometown of Mobile, Ala., according to the newspaper website al.com.

Police received a complaint about a car speeding through a neighborhood several times around noon, the website reported. The vehicle was driven by Fairley, who police say had marijuana in his possession when he was stopped. The second-degree possession charge is a misdemeanor in Alabama.

The Fairley incident came about 24 hours after reports first surfaced that Leshoure had been arrested twice during a three-week period (February 18 and March 12) in the southwestern part of Michigan.

The Lions released the following statement Tuesday: "We are aware of the incident involving Nick Fairley. We hold all of our players to a high standard of behavior and the recent charges against Nick and Mikel Leshoure are not consistent with those standards. We are extremely disappointed.

"We will continue to gather information and will have further comment at the appropriate time."

All three of the players arrested on charges of drug possession were selected in last year's NFL Draft by the Lions. Fairley was a first-round pick from Auburn, Leshoure a second-rounder from Illinois and Culbreath a seventh-rounder from South Carolina State.

Leshoure and Culbreath spent the entire season on injured reserve. Fairley also was set back by injuries, but he made 15 tackles, including one sack, in 10 games.