Billy Gillispie, former Kentucky basketball coach, was arrested at 2:45 a.m. Thursday and charged with DUI.
Video obtained shows Gillispie, also known by his initials BCG, being handcuffed, according to NBC affiliates in Kentucky. He was driving a white 2009 Mercedes with Texas tags and was pulled over after someone reported seeing the car driving erratically, the station reports. Gillispie refused to take a breathalyzer or blood alcohol test, according to sources.
Police said a passenger, 42-year-old Charles O’Conner was also arrested and charged with intoxication. Both men were taken to Franklin County jail.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reported about two prior incidents involving alcohol when Gillispie was hired at Kentucky. In 1999, Gillispie was arrested on two charges: driving while intoxicated and improper use of a lane in Tulsa, Okla. He pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless driving, and other charges were dismissed.
In 2003, in his first year at the University of Texas-El Paso, Gillispie was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, according to the newspaper. The charges later were dismissed after a specially appointed prosecutor decided there was not enough evidence to suggest Gillispie, then 43, was drunk.
Gillispie was fired from his position at Kentucky on March 27, 2009. UK’s administration maintains that Gillispie’s firing was not related to the performance of Gillispie’s teams, but rather was due to an “‘incompatibility’ between the school” and Gillispie which specifically manifested itself in the former coach’s refusal to sign his contract since his hire two years earlier.
On May 27, 2009, Gillispie filed a lawsuit against the University of Kentucky Athletic Association, seeking $6 million, for breach of contract and fraud stemming from the firing. Gillispie argues that Kentucky owes him on the remaining years on the deal, punitive damages, attorney fees, and a jury trial.