CLEVELAND, Ohio – A Browns player was arrested Wednesday night and accused of crashing his SUV into a Florida restaurant and then refusing to cooperate with officers, according to a police report.
Lonnie Phelps, a defensive end, was charged with drunken driving and damaging property after the accident at the Red Shoe Island Bistro, a high-end restaurant in Key West. He refused a breath test, the police report shows.
No one was hurt.
Joseph Schroeder, the building’s owner, estimated the damage at $300,000. He told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer that an outdoor lounge was closed Wednesday night. Had it been opened, he said, several people could have been seriously injured or killed. He said the front end of the SUV crashed into the restaurant after the vehicle drove over a sidewalk and missed a palm tree.
A spokesman for the Browns said the team is aware of the incident and is gathering more information. He said the team had no further comment. Phelps spent last season on the practice squad, never appearing in a game.
Phelps, 23, drove his 2024 Hyundai SUV into the restaurant shortly before 8 p.m. A police report said he and a female passenger appeared under the influence of alcohol or drugs after the crash.
The police report said Phelps appeared agitated with officers throughout attempts to interview him. He turned away from them during a portion of an interview, saying he was afraid he would be shot.
“I asked Phelps where he was driving from (before the crash), and he said, ‘Right in front of it.’ I re-asked the question four times in different ways, and Phelps always said, ‘Right in front of it.’”
Phelps also asked an officer what he had crashed into.
Officers wanted to give Phelps a breath test to determine the amount of alcohol he had consumed. He refused, according to the police report.
Phelps played at the University of Kansas and signed an undrafted, free agent contract with the Browns. He signed a one-year contract for $795,000 for this year.