A former NFL player was arrested on charges of having a stolen vehicle and possession of a gun, among other charges, on April 10 in Georgia.
According to WSB-TV, former Seattle Seahawks player Ricardo Lockette was arrested and booked into jail in Fulton County, where he was charged with possession of a firearm during the commission of or attempt to commit certain felonies, possession of a vehicle with altered VIN, and theft by receiving stolen property.
In court documents, it was revealed that the 37-year-old was caught when the Georgia
State Patrol was stationed outside a Chipotle restaurant near Camp Creek Marketplace. They noticed that Lockette drove a 2021 Ram 1500 TRX with a suspicious tag. State troopers and
Atlanta police officers then followed him across the street to Target. They stopped him and conducted a traffic stop, where they found out that the vehicle was stolen.
After running Lockette’s vehicle identification number (VIN), officers determined that it was fraudulent. The truck was previously reported stolen on March 24, 2023. Under the fake VIN, he was listed as the registered owner and was driving under a suspended driver’s license.
“The key FOB found in Mr. Lockette’s possession was for a Ram Limited, which was inconsistent with the RAM TRX he was driving,” said a statement in the probable cause affidavit. “Further investigation revealed that the vehicle identification number displayed on the front windshield and the door jam was fraudulent.”
The truck was reported stolen from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport last year.
He was discovered in possession of a Glock 43 9mm pistol.
After Lockette was told that he had been driving a stolen vehicle, he told police officers that he bought the truck during the pandemic in 2020.
“He (told us) he found the vehicle on Facebook Market but couldn’t provide a date,” a responding officer wrote in the affidavit. “He stated that he went to Columbus, GA, to purchase the vehicle from a buy here pay here dealership. Again, he couldn’t provide a date of purchase or how much he paid. He stated that he couldn’t remember if he paid cash or used the bank to purchase it. He stated that the vehicle was paid off at the time of purchase.”
Officers found a temporary tag when they searched the vehicle. They stated it had been issued on May 3, 2023, more than a month after it was reported stolen.
Lockette, a Georgia native, won a Super Bowl championship with the Seahawks in 2014 when the team beat the Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLIX. He also played with the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears. He retired in 2016 after suffering a career-ending neck injury in 2015.