JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Former Jacksonville Jaguars player and current radio personality Leon Searcy has been charged with driving under the influence along with property damage and personal injury after rear-ending someone twice in the drive-thru lane of a Wendy’s restaurant on the Southside, police said.
Last year when the Jaguars went to the playoffs the man highlighted in the franchise’s commercial was Searcy.
Searcy has remained a high-profile public figure in Jacksonville for years as one of the hosts of a show at 1010XL Radio. On, Searcy was charged with driving under the influence and property damage and personal injury after the incident in the drive-thru.
On Tuesday, Searcy was spotted working for the radio station at the Jaguars training camp but he was not on his show at noon. The general manager at 1010XL radio released a statement to News4JAX: “We’re aware of the charges and going to let the legal process play out.”
Belkis Plata, a local attorney not affiliated with the case, said one thing that’s unclear is the details of the property damage and personal injury aspect of the case. That could be critical in the court proceedings. She also said he will likely lose his driver’s license at least for a time.
“While careless driving is only a civil infraction where he’ll have to pay a fine. DUI he’s facing up to a year in jail depending on whether he has any priors,” said Plata.
After News4JAX spoke to Plata, we received the arrest report for Searcy.
The report said that Searcy was in the drive-thru lane at the Wendy’s in Deerwood Saturday night when he rear-ended a car in front of him at a slow speed. The driver got out, saw there was no damage, and got back in, according to the report.
Then Searcy hit the car a second time, going faster, and this time there was damage, the witness said. The driver said he heard tires squealing and the impact was with “great force.”
When JSO approached Searcy, he said he didn’t know why he was in the drive-thru lane and denied having been in an accident. He was standing outside his car and the officer noted signs of impairment, including slurred speech, droopy eyes and the odor of alcohol.
Searcy told the officer he had more than 20 concussions while playing in the NFL and denied he was impaired, but failed a field sobriety test, JSO said.
Beyond Searcy’s media presence in Jacksonville, he does have an accomplished resume including being inducted into the University of Miami Hall of Fame and playing in Super Bowl XXX for the Steelers.
Searcy bonded out of jail on Sunday and is set to be arraigned on Aug. 16.