No one is saying what Utah Jazz rookie Luther Wright was doing with a convicted felon Monday when he was arrested at a remote Tooele County rest area.
Wright, who remains hospitalized at the Western Institute of Neuropsychiatry, was placed on the team's injured list Wednesday. From the time Wright came to Utah, those connected to the Jazz organization have questioned the company he keeps. The two men he was with Monday have been arrested numerous times, including arrests for investigation of drug offenses.Wright was arrested about 4 a.m. at a rest area near Saltair, where he was screaming and banging on garbage cans. He was cited for disorderly conduct and told a deputy he was high on Ritalin and marijuana. His agent, Sal DiFazio, says Wright has Attention Deficit Disorder and was only suffering from taking the wrong amount of prescribed medication.
DiFazio denied that Wright had any illegal substances in his system. He said doctors screened Wright for drugs Monday, but would not say who the doctors were.
Scott Layden, director of Basketball Operations, said the Jazz have no plans to conduct additional drugs tests on Wright.
"Actually the Jazz don't administer the tests. The league comes in and does drug tests," he said. Wright has passed two mandatory NBA drug tests that screen for heroin and cocaine in the preseason and in December. The test apparently does not include screening for marijuana.
"To my knowledge the NBA has not given him a test (this week)," Layden said Thursday. When asked who decides when drug tests should be administered, he said, "It's a league issue. I think that's a league decision."
When asked if he is comfortable taking DiFazio's word about the test results, Layden said, "Right now that's the only information I have. Maybe in time more will come out. For right now my understanding is that it was negative on the drug test. I have not seen the results of the test."
The evening's antics began about 8:45 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel downtown. Wright, who apparently works as a part-time DJ at the Club Max inside the hotel, called Salt Lake police and said employees there would not give him his DJ equipment, according to police records.
"When officers got there, he really just calmed down and didn't have any problem," said Lt. Marty Vuyk. No police report was filed.
On his way out of the hotel, Wright mistakenly got into a vehicle that matched the same description of his own and was occupied by three teenagers from the Midvale/Sandy area.
"He said, this isn't my car," explained South Jordan Police Lt. Lindsay Shepherd. During an exchange between the teens, it became evident the boys recognized Wright as a member of the Jazz.
Wright asked, "Do you know who I am," Shepherd said. The kids replied, "Yeah, Luther Wright," he said.
Once inside the vehicle, Wright asked the boys if he could drive around the block. He also exchanged his wallet - holding his NBA card - for the boys' cellular phone, Shepherd said.
When Wright left, he invited the boys to his South Jordan home. On the way there, the three boys picked up more friends, all from the same east Salt Lake Valley area, making a group of some 11 or 12, Shepherd said.
Wright gave them a tour of his home, showing off trophies and a collection of hats - even giving hats to some of the group, Shepherd said. Wright also showed them a gun, possibly a .380-caliber semi-automatic, he said. It was the gun that led a parent of the one of the boys to contact police.
The gun was unloaded, without a clip and with nothing in the chamber, Shepherd said.
When the group left about midnight, they found Wright's father letting air out of the tires of their vehicle - mistaking it for his son's.
"He was just taking that action to keep (Luther Wright) at home," Shepherd said. Wright left with the group of teens in their vehicle, but stopped them 1 1/2 blocks away, saying he had to retrieve his keys from the house. Wright's father met him and convinced Wright to stay at the house, Shepherd said.
The group of teenagers went home and one of the kids told a parent about Wright showing them the gun. The parent contacted the South Jordan Police Department and an officer was sent to the Wright home and found the Jazz player had fled on foot.
At some point, Wright ended up driving a sedan near Tooele with Anthony Martin Lavadour, 40, and his 21-year-old son, Anthony Manuel Lavadour. They told deputy sheriffs that Wright pulled into a rest area near Saltair and "started freaking out because of the Ritalin he was taking."
Patricia Lavadour told the Deseret News Wednesday that her son and ex-husband were frightened with what was happening to Wright. She said she does not know the relationship between Wright and the Lavadours.
The 7-foot-2-inch center broke the windshield of their sedan with his fist and punched dents in the roof, a sheriff's report states. He also threw the sedan's ignition key somewhere in the weeds.
Wright was seen hollering and banging on garbage cans at the rest stop. A deputy said Wright ran toward him while swinging a stick and a leg brace. At gunpoint, the deputy ordered him to stop, handcuffed him and took him to jail. Wright was cited with disorderly conduct and later released after Jazz officials posted $100 bond.
It is unclear what Wright was doing in Tooele County with the Lavadours. Both Lavadours have criminal records.
Jail logs indicate that the younger Lavadour has been charged with possessing and distributing controlled substances and drug paraphernalia. He also served time in jail for attempted aggravated assault. West Valley police booked him into jail as late as Jan. 20 for investigation of injuring a jail, disorderly conduct and failure to identify himself to a police officer.
He has an arraignment scheduled next month for a charge of distribution of marijuana, said Corrections spokesman Jack Ford.
His father served time in prison for burglary and has been arrested 24 times. He has 12 convictions, Ford said. In addition to a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia, jail records show he has also been booked for investigation of assault on a police officer, attempted murder, aggravated robbery, driving under the influence, and others.
Wright has had no reported problems with police since he came to Salt Lake City last year.