T. Morrison In Trouble Again
Former heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison was again behind bars Friday, facing weapons and public intoxication charges after running from a car accident.
The Thanksgiving Day arrest occurred as the 30-year-old boxer was free on $3,500 bail. He is awaiting trial Dec. 21 on previous drug and weapons charges, and authorities expect his bail to be revoked.
Morrison fled into the woods when the Corvette in which he was riding ran off the road and hit some trees about four miles west of Huntsville, the Madison County sheriff's department said.
Investigators think Bart Bumpass, 30, of Fayetteville, was driving the car. He was arrested on weapon, drug, alcohol and driving charges. Police found Morrison about three hours later attempting to use a phone at a house less than a mile from the crash site.
Morrison knocked out George Foreman in 1993 to take the WBO crown. He had 40 knockouts during his career, the last in 1996 just after testing positive for the AIDS virus. He starred with Sylvester Stallone in the movie "Rocky V."
Morrison was charged with public intoxication and being a felon in possession of a weapon. Sheriff Phillip Morgan said Morrison was not given a blood-alcohol-content test but his intoxication was obvious at the time of his arrest.
At the crash scene, officers found several handguns, including a .45-caliber, two .22-calibers and two .40-calibers. Police also found a 12-gauge shotgun they described as a riot gun.
Many of the weapons were equipped with laser sights and all were loaded with ammunition, Morgan said.
"I don't know what so many guns were doing in that car. We're going to have to investigate that further," Morgan said.
Morrison faces trial next month on charges of cocaine possession, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of drug paraphernalia, misdemeanor possession of marijuana and driving while intoxicated.
Those charges stem from a Sept. 16 arrest made after police stopped Morrison for driving erratically.
On Sept. 10, Morrison received a two-year suspended sentence for drunken driving in Oklahoma after pleading guilty.
In 1997, an Oklahoma jury convicted Morrison of driving under the influence and other charges related to a chain-reaction traffic accident that injured three people. He was ordered to spend time in treatment. He also avoided jail time on charges of drunken driving and speeding in Kansas in 1997.
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