Ben Cousins arrested after police pursuit
AFL bad boy Ben Cousins has been charged with reckless driving after a police pursuit in Western Australia.
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AFL bad boy Ben Cousins has been arrested after a police pursuit in Western Australia.
The former West Coast Eagles superstar was allegedly driving recklessly along Preston Point Road in Bicton about 10.30pm on Wednesday night, Seven News reported.
Cousins allegedly told police he could not stop due to a family emergency so he continued to drive, running red lights at slow speeds.
He was charged with reckless driving, failing to stop and failing to give a sample of breath.
The 36-year-old was released on bail and was due to face court on April 8.
He reportedly spent about three hours in the Fremantle Police Station before being collected in a lane way behind the station.
Cousins’ attempt to avoid media was not successful but, when asked whether he wanted to comment he said, “No,” before being driven away.
Cousins has frequently created headlines over well-publicised troubles with drugs and underworld connections that overshadowed his on-field brilliance.
The 2005 Brownlow Medallist and premiership player’s career came to an at the Eagles after a series of off-field indiscretions and he finished his playing days at Richmond.
BEN COUSINS TIMELINE
SEPTEMBER 2002: Fights teammate Daniel Kerr at a nightclub in Perth suburb of Claremont. Cousins’ arm is broken after he is pushed downstairs by an unknown assailant.
MAY 4, 2005: Cousins and ruckman Michael Gardiner embroiled in police investigation into a nightclub shooting in January. The star Eagles and their lawyer refuse to answer questions relating to Perth gangland violence.
MAY 5: Publicly apologises for his association with alleged underworld figures as Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett warns Cousins and Gardiner they are on their last chance.
FEBRUARY 17, 2006: Abandons his car and runs from police near a breath-testing station in Perth.
FEBRUARY 20: Walks away from the West Coast captaincy.
FEBRUARY 27: Police charge Cousins over abandoning his car on a highway to avoid a booze bus. He is later fined $900.
SEPTEMBER 30: Judd and Cousins hold the premiership cup aloft on the MCG after West Coast defeats Sydney by one point.
DECEMBER 3: Arrested for being drunk in public after being found intoxicated and dazed outside the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. Cousins is taken into custody for four hours.
JANUARY 9, 2007: Charge of being drunk in public dismissed.
MARCH 20: Seeks drug- rehabilitation advice for “substance abuse”.
MARCH 22: Parents Bryan and Stephanie reveal Cousins’ problem relates to substance abuse but won’t go into details.
MARCH 23: Goes on a three-day bender after being suspended indefinitely by the club, a source close to the Cousins camp says.
MARCH 31: Heads to a Californian rehabilitation facility that specialises in methamphetamine addiction to fight his drug addiction.
APRIL 30: Arrives home from the US as Eagles chairman Dalton Gooding tells the AFL Commission the club will let Cousins play again only after he fulfils a series of stringent conditions. These include a public statement and an assurance he is drug-free.
MAY 5: Appears on national TV to admit to substance abuse and apologise for his fall from grace.
JUNE 28: Meets AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou, medical officer Peter Harcourt and others to argue he has overcome the substance-use problems.
JULY 21: Returns to the AFL with a 38-possession game against Sydney, but the AFL is attacked for allowing him to play without being officially punished for drug use or speaking publicly about his drug battle.
JULY 28: Drug-tested immediately after West Coast’s big win against the Bulldogs at Telstra Dome.
SEPTEMBER 7: Misses the rest of the season after he tears his left hamstring in the qualifying final against Port at AAMI Stadium. TV cameras capture words “Such Is Life” tattooed across his stomach.
OCTOBER 1: Sources confirm Cousins was with mentor Chris Mainwaring at his Perth home hours before Mainwaring collapsed and died.
OCTOBER 16: Cousins charged by WA police with possession of a prohibited drug (diazepam tablets) without a prescription and failing to submit to a police driver assessment test (including blood) after his car was pulled over in the Perth suburb of Northbridge.
OCTOBER 17: West Coast sacks Cousins at an emergency board meeting. Eagles say he is “terribly sick” and that his focus must be “solely and only on his health”.
OCTOBER 19: Drug charges against Cousins dropped after police admit that under WA law diazepam is prohibited only in injectable liquid form.
NOVEMBER 19: The AFL Commission suspends Cousins for 12 months for bringing the game into disrepute.
OCTOBER 1, 2008: Cousins’ return to West Coast ruled out.
OCTOBER 17: Collingwood, the one-time favourite to secure Cousins, withdraws from the race to recruit him.
OCTOBER 26: St Kilda flags its intense interest in Cousins when five club officials - including coach Ross Lyon - grill the player over dinner in Pt Lonsdale.
NOVEMBER 18: The AFL re-registers Cousins.
NOVEMBER 29: Cousins is passed over in the national draft.
DECEMBER 16: Richmond takes Cousins with the final pick in the pre-season draft.
MARCH 26, 2009: Cousins makes his Tigers debut against Carlton.
JULY 5, 2010: Cousins admitted to hospital suffering an adverse reaction to sleeping pills
AUGUST 17 2010: Announces he will end his AFL career at season’s end
AUGUST 28 2010: Channel 7 airs his controversial television documentary
SEPTEMBER 2010: Releases his tell-all autobiography Such Is Life
SEPTEMBER 2011: Partner Maylea Tinecheff gives birth to their son, Bobby Ernest Cousins.
JANUARY 9 2012: Cousins admitted to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital after a fall at a drug rehabilitation clinic.
JANUARY 13 2012: Committed by doctors to a suburban mental health unit under police escort after suffering drug-induced psychosis
MARCH 27 2012: Charged with possession of methylamphetamine with intent to sell or supply by Esperance police in WA’s South-West where he was attending a drug rehabilitation centre.
JANUARY, 2015: Hospitalised after his head in fall at a rehabilitation clinic.
Originally published as Ben Cousins arrested after police pursuit
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