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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - AUGUST 09:  Kyle Lauletta #17 of the New York Giants looks to pass in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Browns during their preseason game on August 9,2018 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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NY Giants Backup Quarterback Kyle Lauletta Arrest Shows Police Bias

Tuesday morning the NY Giants backup quarterback Kyle Lauletta was arrested in Weehawken, N.J. while driving to the team’s practice facility in East Rutherford for “various motor vehicle and related disorderly persons offenses” that include “eluding police, a third-degree crime, obstructing administration of law, and resisting arrest, which are disorderly persons offense.” There were also motor vehicle charges for “reckless driving, disregarding an officer’s directions, improper turn in a marked traffic lane, and failure to remain in a marked lane,” according to a NY Daily News op-ed , titled “To better understand white privilege just look at Kyle Lauletta and the QB mess of the Buffalo Bills.”

NJ.com was the first to report on Lauletta’s arrest, noting the football player exhibited similar behavior in the same location just 24 hours before, but officers opted to mail him a summons rather than chase him down.

Weehawken police say it was only 8 a.m. when Lauletta was spotted driving his 2017 Jaguar recklessly in a busy area of Pleasant Avenue approaching Route 495 West, where he attempted to make an illegal right turn from the wrong lane despite being instructed by an officer to stay in his marked lane. Lauletta continued and nearly struck the officer before being stopped by another officer at the end of the Route 495 on-ramp, police said. He disobeyed police again when he was asked to show the officer his license and registration and refused to get out of his car.

On Twitter Jemele Hill noted the difference between how Lauletta was treated in comparison to Milwaukee Bucks player, Sterling Brown, who is black, and in January was surrounded by 11 officers, slammed to the ground, stepped on and tasered for parking illegally in a handicap spot outside of a drugstore.

Crazy right?

Meanwhile records uncovered by NJ Advance Media show Lauletta’s driving record includes a reckless driving charge from his days at the University of Richmond. Court documents show he was caught driving 84 mph in a 55mph zone in Fairfax County, Va. on Jan. 11, 2017.

Lauletta paid a $150 fine and plead guilty to an amended charge of failure to obey a highway sign. His records show two other speeding charges as well, once in Virginia and once in Florida. A May 2017 speeding charge — 64 mph in a 45 mph zone — was amended under Virginia law to a misdemeanor and resulted in a fine of $114.

We’re not saying Lauletta had a beating coming to him, but it just seems interesting how bias would result in one athlete being over policed, while another athlete with a pretty bad driving record actually endangered the lives of an officer and managed to be treated in a manner that was more than fair…

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