Written by Matthew Haag at New York Times.com
Sebastian Telfair, a former N.B.A. point guard and high school basketball phenom, was arrested on Sunday morning in Brooklyn with four loaded guns and a bulletproof vest, the authorities said.
Officers stopped Mr. Telfair, 32, and another man, Jami Thomas, 18, in a pickup truck about 2:50 a.m. after noticing the truck parked illegally in a median on Atlantic Avenue and then driving away with its lights off, the police said. Officers found a lit marijuana cigarette in the truck’s center console and discovered three loaded handguns and a semiautomatic rifle, the police said.
Mr. Telfair, who was driving, faces six felony charges, including criminal possession of a weapon and unlawful wearing of a body vest. If convicted on the weapon charge, he could face a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. Mr. Thomas, who lives in Brooklyn and whose relationship to Mr. Telfair was not clear, faces similar charges.
Lawyers for Mr. Telfair and Mr. Thomas could not be reached on Sunday night. Mr. Telfair, who grew up in Brooklyn, told the police he lived in Orlando, Fla.
The arrest was the latest setback for Mr. Telfair, who from the start of middle school in Brooklyn was heralded as one of the great young basketball players in the country. In high school, his games at Abraham Lincoln High School attracted large audiences, including college coaches and N.B.A. scouts.
He decided to skip college and was drafted 13th over all, by the Portland Trail Blazers, in the 2004 N.B.A. draft. But his professional performance never matched the hype. He was fined in 2006 by the Trail Blazers, for having a loaded gun hidden in a pillow case on the team’s private plane. In 2007, the Boston Celtics dropped him after he was stopped in Yonkers with a loaded gun in his car. His last N.B.A. games were in the 2014 with the Oklahoma City Thunder, his eighth team.
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