Ben Wallace Waives Arraignment in Circuit Court on Gun, Drunken-Driving Charges

Detroit Piston Ben Wallace waived his scheduled appearance in Oakland County Circuit Court today on felony gun and misdemeanor drunken-driving charges.

The Bloomfield Hills resident remains free on a personal bond pending an Oct. 25 pretrial hearing before Circuit Judge Shalina Kumar, court records show. Steve Fishman, Wallace's attorney, said after the NBA veteran's last court appearance that he would likely submit paperwork to waive formal arraignment in circuit court, which is routine.

Wallace, 37, was arrested on Sept. 24 by Bloomfield Township police officers that witnessed him driving erratically in the area of Telegraph and Long Lake roads at about 2:35 a.m., reports said. He failed multiple sobriety tests at the scene and had a blood-alcohol content of more that .08, the legal limit to drive in Michigan. Authorities have not revealed the precise test results.

Wallace was transported without incident to the police headquarters and officers found an unloaded handgun with ammunition inside a backpack in the vehicle.

During an interview with a commanding officer, he told officers the gun belonged to his wife and that he had it for protection while driving from Virginia to Michigan the previous day. He said he forgot about the weapon and did not have the proper concealed weapon permit, according to reports.

If convicted, Wallace faces up to 93 days in jail on the drunken-driving charge and up to five years in prison on the weapons offense.