Man: I'm LeBron's dad. Miami Beach cops: You're busted for DUI.
BY CHARLES RABIN, crabin@MiamiHerald.com
He doesn't carry the celebrity cache of Justin Bieber -- but his stepson does.
Eddie Gene Jackson, who identified himself as the stepdad of Miami Heat superstar Lebron James, was arrested in Miami Beach on charges of driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license early Wednesday morning, less than three weeks after Bieber was arrested in the city on the same charge.
Police say Jackson almost hit a police patrol car when he nearly ran a red light at 20th Street and Washington Avenue at 4:08 a.m. After refusing a sobriety test, the police report says, Jackson, 43, who maintains he spends most of his time in Ohio, showed the officer a Fraternal Order of Police badge and an NBA championship ring.
Jackson then told the officer that Lebron James was his son.
"I had to come to a stop as it appeared the vehicle was going to run the red light," a Miami Beach officer said in the report. "I was attempting to avoid a collision."
The report says Jackson told the officer, his "son was Lebron James of the Miami Heat," then showed the officer his ring.
According to the report, Jackson showed the officer a work permit that allowed him to drive between noon and midnight, and said he was returning home from working at a club on Collins Avenue and 20th Street.
After noticing bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, the officer said he ordered Jackson out of his car. That's when, the report said, "he became belligerent and insulting."
At that point, Jackson agreed to a roadside test, which he failed.
Back in April 2011, Lebron James' mom Gloria Marie James was also busted by Miami Beach cops. She was charged with assaulting an attendant at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel after arguing he took too long to retrieve her car.
James, the Miami Heat star, is on a west coast swing with the team, which defeated the Phoenix Suns late Tuesday night.
