Gerald, I don't know how much they cost; but if you'll get a license plate that says judiciary or legislator, you won't have anymore motor vehicle issues.

On the one hand, it's good to see celebrity status doesn't get you off scott-free.

On the other hand, would a white guy have gone to jail, or just gotten a summons and a ride home?

Like I said, this is not a large town. Its not too unusual to run in to people you know.

I'm getting so sick of everyone saying that this is racial profiling. Give me a break. The only reason why racism is still around is because people always feel that if something happened to them it was because someone else was racist. He committed a crime! Driving on a suspended license is a crime. It doesnt matter if he was black, white, yellow, red whatever. he committed the crime. If it had been written that he was let off then people would be b*tching because the cops didnt do their job. He should just paid whatever it was that got his license suspended and none of this wouldve happened. But because he is some "big important football player" he thought like all the others (whites included) that the laws didnt apply to him. And you all can say i'm racist or whatever you want, but i'm not. I have plenty of friends of all races. Basically my point is he did it to himself. Like someone else commented, if nothing would've shown up on his history nothing would've ever happened to him. He would've been let go. But you know what, there are always going to be people out there screaming racism. Well maybe I should start. I dont get a "white history month" because then someone would scream racism, I dont get a "WET (white entertainment television)" because someone would scream racism. So because of just those 2 things, should i get to scream racism? I got pulled over by a black cop in SC and he gave me a ticket, should i be able to scream racism because i'm white and he was black. Give me a friggin break people. Grow up, move on and enjoy life. Life is to short to be making something bigger than what it needs to be. Oh and I voted for Obama!

Looked you up on myspace? Youve created a fake profile there too? Look, its blatantly obvious that yourself and your mother use your account. Kingsport is not a huge metropolis, people may know you here.

Poor Wille P, I dont know where you gettin ur info but you need to switch sources cause you are way off, with your case law and what officers can and can not do..lets just say she ran the tag to see whos it was...which is legal, and then ran his license due to "reasonalbe suspicion" (ever heard that one Willie P) because of KNOWN previous infractions..which is legal as well...got her info and then went in and ask Gerald who was driving, or maybe she even seen him get out of the drivers seat and walk in so she knew who was driving...so take ur own advice and see how the courts handle it, but I would bet my house it was ALL legal..... and by the way did anybody check the FYI the last couple days..well guess what ...there was somebody else that got arrested for driving on suspended....and they werent "famous"..and we didnt read about it in the front of the newspaper..wonder why...but also wonder if they have already gotten a lawyer to file a profiling lawsuit....A bentley in Kingsport is suspicious period no matter where it was and any person would ask therself wonder who was driving it? I seen a yellow ferrari at Starbucks a couple weeks ago and thought wow wonder who is driving that, so if the owner is reading this, i guess you can sue me for profiling... Gerald is a great guy and was just in the wrong place at wrong time, and as soon as he pays to have his lisence issue resolved this will disappear and in no way will a driving on suspended effect his contract talks with other teams...what a joke

"Been thuggin’ all my life, can’t say I don’t deserve to take a break.
You’d rather see me catch a case, and watch my future fade away."


The lyrics in this song are so true. Every time I hear it I think about all the haters here in Kingsport. I'm sure gerald does, too! People LOVE to watch the people who made it out of here screw up. I went to school with gerald (btw-this is an alias-if you read this) and he is a good guy. Do you know how many guys played football and could've made it to where he is, but they chose to do drugs or sell drugs and are now in jail instead? I'm proud of him for making it outta here. I'll never have a bentley or a fraction of the income he has, but i'm pretty sure that if i did - i'd be carrying some ammunition, too. Unless you have that kind of money you can't really understand or judge someone for carrying weapons. so, he had a few tickets...big deal. i'm pretty sure he can afford to pay them. maybe he was out of town and didn't get the notice - maybe he forgot - who knows...who cares. there are people in the FYI section with these same charges every day and nobody cares, but since he's "famous" around here, it's a big deal. he's no different than anybody else - quit hating.

What are you talking about "emily"? Its just too obvious anymore.

I have quoted case law. BOTTOM LINE. I can not reason with closed minded people. They need to research to see if every tag she runs does she also run their license status or just select people. This is the last comment I am going to make. Like I said before it is up to the court to make a ruling on this matter. Mr. Sensabaugh has case law on his side.

LOOK UP DELAWARE VS. PROUSE 440 US 648 (1979) RULED THAT THE POLICE STOPPING VEHICLES FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN TO CHECK DRIVERS LICENSE AND REGISTRATION WAS UNCONSTITIONAL.

Fact was, the officer was right. He was driving on a suspended license.
You or I or Aunt Fanny may be having our tags ran as we type. If nothing comes up against them, there's no problem. But in this case it was registered to an individual with no license. So, to see if the unlicensed individual was the one driving, she checked him. And she was right.

Was he detained from leaving? YES!!! He may have not been in a car when the stop was made. But his person was seized. The courts will determine if that constitutes a stop. She acted on a mere hunch with no other articulable or specific reason.

I AM THE GRANDMOTHER OF GERALD SENSABAUGH JR. AND IM NOT MAKING THIS COMMENT BEING BIASED OF THIS SITUATION,HOWEVER I FEEL IT HAS GOTTEN OUT OF PROPORTION, AND HAS BECOME A BIG ISSUE. MY GRANDSON LOVES KINGSPORT AND EVERY OFF SEASON HE IS HERE TO SEE HIS RELATIVES, FRIENDS AND THE COMMUNITY AND HE IS A GOOD PERSON WHO LIKES TO GIVE TO OTHERS. AND YES HE MAY HAVE MADE A ERROR IN JUDGEMENT BUT HE SHOULD NOT BE OSTRACIZED AS IF HE COMMITTED A CAPITAL CRIME. I THINK THE ISSUE IS MORE ABOUT BEING BLACK AND DRIVING A BENTLEY. THE ARTICLE MADE A COMMENT ABOUT HIM BEING SUSPICIOUS BECAUSE OF HIS WHEREABOUTS. ALTHOUGH HE HAS RELATIVES THROUGHOUT KINGSPORT, I DIDNT KNOW YOU HAD TO HAVE REASON TO DRIVE IN ANY PARTICULAR NEIGHBORHOOD. GERALD HAS BEEN PROUD OF THE CITY HE GREW UP IN, IN FACT HE HAS MOVED ME HERE FROM ANOTHER STATE. I AM HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED IN THE NEGATIVE SPOTLIGHT THAT THIS CITY CONSTANTLY TRIES TO PUT HIM IN. KINGSPORT SHOULD BE PROUD TO HAVE AN ELITE PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE FROM THEIR OWN TOWN. WE SHOULD BE HONORING HIM FOR HIS ACHIEVEMENTS, RATHER THAN TRYING TO PULL HIM DOWN. LASTLY, HIS GUNS HAVE NEVER BEEN USED AS A THREAT TO ANYONE, IT IS A HOBBY FOR HIM ALONG WITH CLASSIC CARS.~signed Loretta Sensabaugh

O.K. the "BOTTOM LINE" is Mr. Sensabaugh has family members that live on Dale St. Can the city police stop you just to check your license directly or indirectly the BOTTOM LINE IS NO!!! Only the Highway Patrol can stop you just to check your license. HAVE A PEACHY DAY!!!!!

"It's very interesting that no one addressed my comment. Because why? It was the "bottom line". You can't argue the facts. You can write all the opinions you want, but the facts are indisputable. Again, "Have a nice day"." I'll respond: That sounds like the "opinion" of the very epitome of what I described in a previous post here, Officer Hensley.

How did she know Mr. Sensabaugh was the operator without knowing who he was? What if somebody else was operating the vehicle? She probally watched him get out and walk into the barbor shop. Then she checked his drivers license status. At that point in time he did not violate any law to be stopped. If you think someone is lost or acting suspicious in a neighborhood why would you run thier license status? If she thought the vehicle was suspicious, she would have stopped the vehicle and conducted a interview and not have let him walk into a barber shop. I don't understand how someone can drive around a block a couple of times,park their car, walk into a barber shop and get arrested. When a city conducts a roadblock or a check point for them to check your license they have to have the Highway Patrol present. When they conduct a D.U.I. check point or road block and they Highway Patrol is not present they can not ask to see your license. They are only looking for impaired drivers. If they determine you have been drinking alcohol then they can futher investagate the stop and ask for your license. With this said it is up the the court to determine probable cause for the stop. This is a example on how case law is made.

This is a great example of racial profiling. A black man in a Bentley on Dale Street that was enough probable cause for this officer. Had he been a white man in a Bentley in Ridgefields, there'd been ZERO probable cause.

He wasn't breaking any law before being pulled over, just being black and the wrong part of town.

The officer questioned a Bentley being in that neighborhood. She saw a black man driving. If that raises an alarm then so be it, but when they pull into to a barber shop? And with that being the only barbershop in town for black men. Where else is he supposed to go? As far as the guns go, they were legal, so what's the big deal. There have been quite a few instances of professional athletes being robbed lately so I don't blame him for that. And with those kind of guns, he probably wouldn't want to leave them just anywhere. I would want to keep them with me to make sure the wrong person didn't get a hold of it, being an adult or a little kid.

Amen, Samuel Hensley!

let's face it. He would not have even been noticed if he were not a black man in a Bentley on Dale Street. The article states it was in public housing, the houses on Dale Street ore not public housing. Although they are in a lower income part of town, these are established neighborhoods. This is the very definition of racial profiling. As another writer said, Had this been in Ridgefields, and a white man were driving, the officer would never have noticed or called in the tag number to start with.
Regardless of the outcome, it would be in the FYI section of the paper, not front page news. The only thing that makes this news is his status as a pro ball player.

So many of these posts are right and so many are wrong... WAY WRONG...Willie Richardson is definitly part of the problem and not the solution to racism!!! Gerald is a fine young man who made a mistake and got caught, Our officers should be suspicious of a vehicle like that in this area, not just in "that" area, and she had every right to do the steps she did no matter if our new President Obama or the Pope who is white was behind the wheel. He was took to jail for suspension due to satisfy citations as would have ANYBODY else been, if he didnt pay the first ones why would he pay this one?? Front page news....NO that was just because of who it was, so if anybody is "profiling"...but you got freedom of the press....therefore it is what it is, no rights were violated, only one wrong was done and as soon has he goes and pays the fines a gets a valid liscense all this will be dismissed and disappear, so everyone put your big girl or boy britches on, build a bridge a get over it!!!! Leave Gerald and KPD alone, and let them both do their jobs and live their lives!!!!! GEESH!!!!!

Hey, if ya didn't get enough attention growing up, I'd like to recommend a job in law enforcement. If you were bullied during your developing years, or are one of the "bully" mentality, I'd like to recommend law enforcement. There is no other job quite like it, you get to make your own rules, demand "respect" from basically anyone, anytime, and your co-workers and superiors have "got your back" in every questionable situation. Then, if you do happen to have a lapse in judgement, or you get caught using your personal preferred tactics of "justice", theres a slim-to-none chance that any repercussions will be served against you. If anyone does file a complaint, or you find yourself on the recieving end of a very legitimate lawsuit, just recycle the "I risk my life daily" talking point with some raw emotion. The majority population of this country, i.e., the "sheep", will support you under most any circumstance. Those that oppose your actions will be shouted down with the rhetoricals like "What would you do without cops" or "You just wait until you need help". They money isn't great, but the status is unbeatable.

I must confess, Mr. Brown is correct. The Bentley is registered in Mr. Sensabaugh's name, but only so Mr. Big won't find out it's mine. You see, I pay Gerald to drive me around. I was just getting a little off the top from my favorite Kingsport Barber and Gerald was circling the block to keep the back warm. Those Bentleys may be expensive, but the heaters are for crap. Rest assured, all this misunderstanding will be taken care of as soon as I can get that money back from those nihilists who kidnapped Bunny. Right now I'm stuck with a ringer full of Walters dirty undies, my driver's in the pokey, my Caucasian is in dire need of a refill, and Jesus is throwing nothing but strikes.

I agree with Oliver Douglas (for once). Had a friend who lived in FL. HIs license was pulled due to points and the final straw was a ticket he received in GA. When he was pulled over the next time, his license was suspended and the notice was "lost in the system." Doesn't mean that is what happened to Sensabaugh, but it is within the realm of possibility. One would think that, if he knew his license was suspended, he could afford to pay someone to drive him around.

just for fun - let's assume she wasn't profiling (which she was) and that she wasn't ditzy enough to admit that fact.....is there nothing more important happening in kingsport than a man driving a bentley that he has every legitimate reason to own?

this reminds me of the time the cops were called when a woman was getting ready to get into a car and drive with her children while she was under the influence of god knows what. when the cop showed up oooh...about 30 minutes later, he said, "sorry. i was chasing someone who had ran off without paying for gas." oh, yeah, that's WAY more important than children's lives that are put at risk every day. i dunno, everyone has their own priority list i guess.

Officer Lunsford did not need probable cause to run the tag - do your own legal research. Then, once she found out the owner of the vehicle has a suspended license, this gave her probable cause to investigate further - again, do your own research. Therefore, I applaud Officer Lunsford for doing her job.

Every time that I think that moving back to Kingsport might not be so bad, I read something like this and remember why I left in the first place. I have lived many places and Kingsport truly is not a particularly racist place (which is a good thing). However, Kingsport is the kind of place where molehills become mountains and that which is petty, insignificant, or trivial can make the front page of the newspaper. Facts and incidents are constantly exaggerated and broadcast in a fashion that amounts to nothing less than character assassination.

Gerald Sensabaugh was profiled for driving a Bentley (and maybe because he was black as well, but who knows). Kingsport’s finest obviously had nothing better to do and decided to find something to do by making Mr. Sensabaugh the target du jour. Perhaps I have it all wrong and Kingsport really is so safe and crime free that the police honestly have nothing to do except run license plates and driver’s licenses on cars and drivers that have broken no laws. In either case, it is all just a little too suffocating for me. Because most of my family is still in the area, I still visit Kingsport several times a year, but there isn’t a single day that I am there that I do not fear some sort of hassle because my car has out-of-state plates (and I am a 30 something, white, professional). If I were Mr. Sensabaugh, I would steer clear of Kingsport except when absolutely necessary.

After the officer ran all the checks on Mr. Sensabaugh She could have went into the barber shop and informed him his license was suspended not to be driving. She could have explained to him if he continued to drive he would be arrested.Maybe he did not know why his license was suspended. I am convinced the is a prime example of Racial Profiling.

Sorry, that was supposed to be Probable cause...did the officer have it? Just a typo.

Give me a break. I don't care if he is purple and the ambassador from the planet Venus. Probably cause...did the officer have it? I don't know because I wasn't there or in her situation. I do think that oftentimes sports stars, movie stars, etc. think that the law doesn't apply because of who they are. Is this the case for this gentleman? I don't know because I do not know him personally. Perhaps, since he has multiple violations, he thinks that he should be able to "get by" with more because of his status. What gets me is that this has turned into a racial issue. Stop it! Everyone needs to get over the race thing. I have friends of every color. My son once dated a bi-racial girl. I adored her. Yes, we are "white", whatever that is supposed to mean. And the comment about Obama is beyond ridiculous. Doesn't matter if you voted for him or not, he is our President and we should support him as the leader of our nation. That being said, it has NOTHING to do with this article. Profiling does exist everywhere. I was followed for weeks by officers because I drove a supped up Mustang with dark (but legal) tint on the windows and I am a white female who was in her late 30's at the time. I was even pulled over once on the premise that my tag came back stolen. I asked why he had even ran my tag as I wasn't breaking any laws. No answer. I then asked him to run my tag again and, guess what, with me there to here dispatch, my tag came back just like it was supposed to. Did I sue the local police force (it wasn't in Kingsport)? NO. And I was innocent of any crime, including speeding. He broke the law, should face the music, and let it go, just like any of the rest of us would have to do.

Next time he visits home - drive an old beat up Honda or something - lol I didn't know they issued carry permits for assault weapons though - kinda odd. Maybe in Texas - lol I did google the AK and it sure enough is a permissible weapon - but it still shouldn't be something you carry around in your trunk to go get a haircut........ 222 ain't there anymore.

I think because who he was they should put him under the JAIL untill after the end of the 2009 NFL season.
Being Black he may think he is above the LAW. He is not.
I believe the Officer didn't what was expected. If a Bently was cruising my street it would catch my attention also.
Just like the Man going the wrong way on the interstate and killing a Firefighter -EMT. Boy you really jumped his case driving without a permit. Fair for the GOOSE fair for the GANDER.
ITS not BLACK ans WHITE its a LAW.
Thanks to the OFFICER.

let me tell you how many people on the road in the tri cities are driving today with a suspended license! the courts take your license, the hit you with huge fines, court cost, jail fees, etc etc, and then your suppose to pay all this off, while supporting your family, before they give them back. then you have to work, so with no transit system, afforable cabs and the such your put in a situation where it's easier to drive and take a chance then to loose your job. Tennessee has someof the toughest driving laws in the country, I'd say one in seven cars on the road today are driven by suspended drivers. i went 22 year without one, i drove on a daily basis, i begged them to reinstate so i could work, they wouldn't so i did what i had to do to support my family. if they would give a man's license back on a payment system, give them back at so much per month, the state would gain all the money that is suppose to be paid, instead of people just driving and not paying.

Willie you are correct -- Everyone does profile.. Not saying the car wasn't, because it was. You cant say that it was a racial thing though, because once again you weren't there. I run tags all night long and if I run a tag and the registered owner is suspended, I will find a reason to stop said car to find out if the driver is the actual owner.

Oliver -- Don't make this a black/white issue because it isnt. If it were a white NFL star it would be in the paper. How do you think I found out about it? The story was linked on www.profootballtalk.com.. A site that gets millions of hits each month. It was in the paper because hes a celebrity.. No other reason.

It is all about catching a "BIG FISH" and getting your name in the paper. I don't think the officer had probale cause or reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle. The expensive vehicle brought attention to the police. Think about this... Its 2:oo a.m. you see two vehicles. They both have a inoperable headlight. One of the vehicles is operated by a senior citizen, the other vehicle is operated by a young to middle aged person. Which car will get stopped? Everybody profiles. When you go to the grocery store. There are many different types of the same item you want to buy. You select the item. The only unity that can stop you to check your license is the Highway Patrol. The officer can try to say she had prior knowledge that his license was suspended.They can research the N.C.I.C. log to see if she inquired about his license status prior to the day of the incident.

Let me try and clear a few things up for some of you that appear to be ignorant to how this whole thing works. Yes, I am a police officer, no I don't work for Kingsport PD, hell I don't even know where Kingsport is. Here is what I do know.

You can argue all day along that Sensabaugh was "profiled" and you are probably right. That does not make it a racial issue though. Cops are inquisitive by nature and they try to look for things that are suspicious. An expensive car in a predominately poor area may be a NFL star going to visit his family, or it may be a drug dealer carrying 50 kilos of cocaine. An older beat up car in a multi-million dollar neighborhood may be a someone who made a wrong turn, or it may be a burglar. A middle aged man outside of a school may be a dad who is waiting for his kid to get out of school, or it may be Chester the Molester looking for his next victim. The point is this, if you are in the category of doing nothing wrong, answer the officer's questions, dispel his or her fears that you are up to no good and you will be free to go, don't be rude just explain yourself. If you are up to no good, well then.. you can figure out the rest.

As for why the officer chose to make an arrest.. There are many reasons why she arrested him as opposed to issuing him a criminal citation. Perhaps he was being rude to her, or acting as if breaking the law was no big deal? Or perhaps the officer felt that due to his history he has not learned his lesson and she thought he needed to be taught a lesson? Perhaps she is an officer of the belief that if you break a law you go to jail, no questions asked? Or perhaps she wanted to search his vehicle..... That's where things get tricky. See, if an officer wants to search a vehicle you can do it one of two ways. Get consent to search, or search incident to arrest. In order to get consent the driver must be free to leave, meaning the driver can tell you to go f-off and leave. If you make an arrest, you're good to go no matter what to toss that car. Perhaps she thought that he would not give consent and she thought there was something illegal in the car? The point is none of us were there and none of us know what was going through the officer's head.

Look there are good cops and bad cops out there. There are cops of every mindset, think about your job. I am sure that each and every one of you has a kiss-a** at your work place that will do anything to get ahead, including bending the rules. I'm sure everyone of you has someone at your job that does everything by the book each and every time. I'm sure each and everyone of you has a "go-getter" at your job, or someone who is lazy as hell, etc etc. Cops are no different you get all those personalities in the police world as well.

Cops don't come on here and critique your work performance, so please dont do it to us. I encourage every single one of you to go to your local department and request a ride along to see what it is that cops do each and every night. Most of you have no idea what its like to walk up to a car in a traffic stop in the middle of the night and seeing the driver fidget around with something. Is it a gun? Or is it his wallet? Or what its like to go to a domestic dispute where there may be a weapon involved. Get out there and see what its like, then maybe, just maybe you will have some ground to stand on to critique an officer, but not much.

The fact of the matter is, this guy broke the law. It was a solid arrest, no lawyer is going to get him out of it. She saw the car driving, followed it, ran the tag confirmed the registered owner was suspended. Then she more than likely pulled his picture up in the DL database, confirmed it was him when he got out of the car and made the arrest. Solid case, guy shouldn't have been driving. If he hadn't broke the law she probable would have let him be, or worst case made contact with him determined what he was doing and then let him be.

Don't want to go to jail? Don't break the law and you wont have anything to worry about.

I think folks have it half right. It is not profiling to run a tag, just the truth. However, to run a tag beacuse of who it is or car recognition could be, but it would never be proved. To the Obama thing, I am a white male and am no way upset about where Obama is. I hope others feel the same in this day and age. We are not in the 1960's. I think (and hope the cops did not profile). The big issue I have, is why the Times News is all over Gerald? He has done alot for Kingsport. Why trade the news value for real value? There were other ways to use him for your paper. He is a good man

Maybe he was going to a range to practice or returning from one, maybe he had them in the car due to travel plans after the hair cut. We do not know the whole story so don't judge why he had 3 guns in the car, he had them legally so drop it. He was legal with all the firearms and thats the end of it.I too hope his attorney rips them up.

Mrs. Sesabaugh~Davis,

I'm not sure how your comment regarding our newly elected president comes into play here. I'm a mid 20s caucasian male that voted for Pres. Obama because I felt he had the best chance of leading us into better times and his "Change" metality was very inspirational. However, I do not feel the comments you made, reverse racism if you will, support his goal of bringing everyone together, working together towards a better union. The ignorance that you have shown in your posting does nothing more than place yet another dent in the perception of Gerald in the court of public opinion, not to mention the family's name. I would suggest that Gerald use extreme caution when he is in Kinsport or any other area for that matter, and leave his firearms at home. Why would he feel it would be appropriate to carry that much firepower, just to go get his hair cut. When it comes to race, no one on either side of the fence at this day in time needs to play the victim card, as we were not around to take part in nor were we there to work towards preventing any horrible events in our nations history. I, too, would like to see Gerald make it through this and and would encourage the Kpt Times to do a follow up article on his community involvement so our youth can see this was probably just a lapse in judgement and that he is overall a stand up citizen.

great job k.p.d. and kudos to the times news. out chasing down an outstanding citizen who is giving back to this comunity more than any one will ever know, thanks to the lack of coverage by the times news. oh by the way did anyone hear that the officer was carrying a side arm and probably had a shotgun in the car?

I FULLY support the coming lawsuit against this officer and the city police...I hope his lawyer sues them into the red!!!


Obviously she knew this was Sensabaugh BEFORE running the tags...another notch in the belt.

Since when is probable cause driving a Bentley...was he charged with a traffic offense other than driving on suspended...NO.

I'd like to see how many other people she has NOT taken to jail for driving on a supsended.

Discrimination, harrassment, profiling, illegal stop...I hope his lawyer goes the full nine yards.

The added drama about the guns is sensationalist journalism...I think he was underarmerd with all that happened to NFL players in the past year...remember the now paralyzed Jaguar player?!?!

i was just telling my bf that i can't believe the officer admitted to pulling him over because basically he was driving a nice car in that neighborhood. it's ridiculous. obviously, the money he's making is legit so why don't they leave him alone? if people are out making money illegally, they get harrassed. they make it legitimately...still harrassed. where's the motivation to do it legit? you'd think the officer would've at least come up with a better excuse to tell the newspaper...pathetic. denise - saying are you all upset because a black man was elected to run the country is just beyond ingnorant. there are plenty of people who disagree with what happened with gerald, and let me remind you that if white people had not voted, we would not have a black president. the officer that pulled him over does not represent the entire white race, thank you very much. don't stoop to that level.

I personally do not understand why this is so important that it makes front page news....I mean come on, its a suspended liscense!! I also do not understand why it was such a big deal to track this man down to the barber shop and arrest him. Many people are cited for suspended liscense, and are not arrested, they are released on their own recognance. It is an honor that this man still calls this his home town, and visits here, spending his hard earned legal money here. I bet if it had been "Uncle John's boy", noone would have said a word, they would have gotten his autograph and he would have been on his way. Once it was known who the Bentley was registered to, suspicion should have ended....I think it was a little much to do reasearch on him, when you know he has money, and he is from this area. er go, he drives a bentley. Many people who live in housing developments have families who visit, and those families have money, not nice to insult these people with comments such as these.

I would have to say I would challenge that for probable cause. A Bentley in that area is odd but you can not legally pull someone over for that and how did she know the driver was the registered owner and not someone else. Seems they have it out for him. I hope he fights it, pay the ticket, show proof to the judge and have the charges dropped. Also since he has a permit he can carry all the guns he wants, one or one hundred. If I was him I would have 2-3 on me or near me at all times as well. I hope he has his attorney jump on this and get his DL issue resolved and not let them drag him down. Keep your head up and drive on. I am glad that after his first mishap he got his HCP. Profiling is illegal so he has some legal room to work with here.

Hrm. How odd. The article has been corrected since my posting. I could have *sworn* that it was listed as a Glock .22-cal. pistol.

So... we're both right. My bad in not copy/pasting to show the flaw intially.

You are right, Mr. Hincke....I would assume that the economy has driven individuals and companies to do whatever possible to make a nickel. I have known this kid since birth, and the only thing I would say he did wrong was not take care of his license. I also want to remind you others who commented... that he is NOT a criminal or a thug, and what about the good he has done? Are you all that upset because a Black Man has been elected to run our country? Well, get over it because he is there and you are not!!

CONGATULATIONS to Kingsport! You just lost out on one of the BEST CITIZENS of our community. Gerald made one mistake (driving on a revoked license) and the story has got blow out to be he is a terroist. COME ON!!! Why has the Times News NEVER wrote a story about any of the POSITIVES that Gerald has provided for this community??? I would really like an answer to this question! I personally was interviewed by a Times News reporter about something GREAT that Gerald did for Kingsport, why was that story never printed?? Before alot of you people convict Gerald in your minds, PLEASE find out more about him! I'm not saying he deserves "special treatment" but he MORE THAN DERSERVES to be "treated FAIRLY".

I know Gerald is a high profile citizen around this area, but is it really necessary to write a whole story about this incident. If this would have been "Joe Six Pack" I bet there would not have been a story written about this. I don't believe there should be special treatment for anyone, but I don't understand why a story like this has to be printed instead of putting it in the FYI section. It's all about selling papers.

CK it wasn't an AK-47, it was and International Arms AK-47. There's a difference. Read the article again and I think you'll see it is accurate as written. It clearly states the guns were an International Arms AK47, a Glock 22 and a Bersa 380, all accurate names for commercially available firearms. The gun owners may be shaking their heads in disbelief, at you. Google dude, google.

A black guy driving a Bentley... sounds like racial profiling to me. Did the officer give a reason why she ran the plate to start with?

Oh, and Kacie- do your research a bit better before releasing your report. Gun owners are looking at this report and shaking their heads in disbelief.

I'm not buying the AK-47 story. Its more than likely a Mak-90 (an ak-47 lookalike, but only semi-automatic). If it was really a fully-automatic weapon (as purported) he'd be under the jail without the proper stamp.

Also- Glock doesn't put out a .22 caliber pistol. A glock 22 would be a .40 S&W.

Word to the wise, Gerald... get a concealed carry permit, and don't worry about that anymore.

He had not only two pistols, but an AK-47?! Gees, anybody else would be under the jail! Why do these "professional" ball players have to jepordize their well paying careers by acting like thugs??!!

Is it me, or does KPD look to arrest this guy? Everytime he comes home they have him charged? No he shouldn't be driving, but, to circle a block and stop at a barber shop is probable cause? I'd say they pretty well knew who was driving a Bentley? Not to many of those in Kingsport.

HE DIDN'T GET CHARGED WITH THE GUNS..GREAT JOB KPD. WHY DO WE PAY TAXES FOR POLICE LIKE KPD.