Alameda Ta’amu, the anchor of the Washington Huskies defensive line a year ago, was arrested in Pittsburgh early Sunday after a police chase in which several cars were struck and a woman was injured.
Police charged Ta’amu, a fourth-round draft choice of the Pittsburgh Steelers who has yet to play this year, with DUI and resisting arrest. Police told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Ta’amu’s blood-alcohol reading was 0.196.
The Post-Gazette reported that court documents said Ta’amu is facing felony counts of fleeing police, aggravated assault while driving drunk and three counts of aggravated assault for nearly running down three police officers. He also was charged with 10 misdemeanors, including resisting arrest, attempting escape, drunken driving and failure to obey traffic laws.
Ta’amu was a 3A All-State selection at Rainier Beach High School in 2007 and played in every Husky game during his four-year career at Washington. He was an honorable-mention All-Pac-12 selection last season.
Police say Ta-Amu was stopped at 2:30 in the morning after driving down a street the wrong way near a popular entertainment district filled with pedestrians. He fled in his 2006 Lincoln Navigator while three officers gave chase on foot, all ordering Ta’amu to stop.
After striking several cars, including one with a passenger who was hospitalized with several injuries, then released.
After crashing his vehicle, the 6-foot-3, 348-pound Ta’amu, a reserve nose tackle, fled on foot before he was subdued, double-handcuffed and taken away in a paddy wagon because of his size.
Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert says team officials are “disappointed” but will await more information before commenting further.