Ben Gordon, a former UConn basketball standout and longtime NBA player, was arrested after allegedly threatening two employees at a Connecticut juice shop with a knife, police said Thursday.
Gordon is accused of “bizarre” and “aggressive” behavior during the incident Tuesday morning in Stamford, cops told the Daily News.
“He continued to act bizarre and aggressive [when officers arrived] and was noncompliant with their [pat-down] request, which appeared to be repeated several times,” said Richard Conklin, assistant chief of the Stamford Police Department.
“Soon after that, all officers acting in conjunction were able to take Ben Gordon into custody with limited amount of force. They were able to grab him and force him to the ground and handcuff him.”
Police say they found a folding knife, stun gun and brass knuckles with Gordon, though no one was injured during the alleged ordeal. The charges against Gordon include three counts of dangerous weapon possession and two counts of threatening.
Gordon continued to “act in a bizarre, aggressive manner” after being taken to a Stamford detention center and refused to comply during the booking procedures, Conklin said. He was evaluated for mental health at a Stamford hospital, then returned to the detention center, where behavioral health officials met with him to calm him down.
Family members and friends of Gordon were also called in to help, and he eventually complied with the processing protocol, police said. The family posted a $10,000 bond and Gordon was released Tuesday night. He is due in court April 18.
The incident occurred on Gordon’s 40th birthday and the morning after UConn men’s basketball won the 2023 NCAA championship in Houston. Police haven’t determined why Gordon was in Stamford.
Gordon was previously arrested in October for allegedly hitting his 10-year-old son at LaGuardia Airport. He was arrested the following month for allegedly punching a security guard at a McDonald’s in Chicago.
Originally born in London, Gordon spent much of his childhood in Mount Vernon, N.Y. The shooting guard starred at UConn from 2001 to 2004, winning a national championship in his final season.
The Chicago Bulls made Gordon the third overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. He spent five of his 11 seasons with Chicago, where he became the first rookie to win NBA Sixth Man of the Year.
Gordon also played for the Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Bobcats and Orlando Magic, averaging 14.9 points across 744 career games. He played his last NBA game in 2015.
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