Bears wide receiver Byron Pringle was arrested and charged with misdemeanor reckless driving and driving with a suspended license in Pasco County, Fla. on Saturday night after a Florida Highway Patrol officer observed him squealing tires, burning rubber and “performing a donut” in his 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat.
Pringle, who lives in Wesley Chapel, Fla. — less than a mile from the incident — was with another adult male and a juvenile child in the car at the time of the incident, around 6 p.m. EDT. A check on his driver’s license revealed it had been suspended on Feb. 10 for “financial responsibility” and also for failure to pay a traffic fine as of March 7, 2022.
According to the arrest report filed by the FHP officer, after Pringle was informed he was under arrest, he “ignored my verbal commands initially and then became verbally confrontational.” He was placed under arrest and transferred to the Pasco County Jail “without further incident.”
A Bears spokesman confirmed the team is aware of the arrest but had no comment on the Pringle arrest.
Pringle, 28, signed a one-year, $4 million contract (with an additional $2 million in incentives) with the Bears on March 20 after spending this first four seasons in the NFL with the Chiefs. An undrafted free agent from Kansas State in 2018, he missed his rookie season after suffering a hamstring injury in the preseason finale.
After being a bit player in the Chiefs’ high-powered offense in 2019 and 2020, he played a bigger role last season, with 42 receptions for 568 yards (13.5 avg.) and five touchdowns.
