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Kings star forward Jarret Stoll, 32, was taken into custody by police officers from L.A. on suspicion of cocaine possession, the police announced Friday.
The first to report the news was the L.A. affiliate of CBS television, which stated that the hokey player was arrested at the MGM Grand hotel because police officers suspected him of cocaine and Ecstasy possession.
Stoll was held in custody at the Clark County Detention Center, which is the primary L.A. jail facility where every man or woman arrested over a felony in Los Angeles is initially held.
But on Friday night, the Clark County police department reported that Stoll was no longer in their custody, while an anonymous source familiar with the issue confirmed that piece of news.
NHL’s deputy commissioner Bill Daly told reporters Friday night that league commissioners were aware of the police reports issued that night and that they would closely follow up to understand what kind of allegations Stoll currently faced. Mr. Daly declined to further comment because he said he was in no such position until more information was available.
The team was briefed on the matter Friday night.
The Kings quickly released a public statement saying that the club was also aware of the Clark County police reports involving Jarret Stoll. The team said that its members were extremely concerned and that they already started a thorough internal investigation on the matter.
The Kings also declined to further comment until they would gather enough facts to base their opinion on.
Stoll was part of the team since 2008, and decisively contributed to the team’s success in a couple of Stanley Cup championship runs, one in 2012, the other one last year. The Kings ended their season Saturday after they have missed the playoffs.
Stoll made the headlines for reasons non-related to hockey in the summer of 2013 when he was taken to a local hospital and almost died after suffering a major seizure in his Hermosa Beach home.
Dean Lombardi, the club’s general manager, told reporters back then that the player was rushed to a Torrance hospital and released on the same day. Lombardi was very secretive and refused to provide further details. He said that the bottom line was that Stoll was fine. He also stated that the team was investigating the cause of the seizure although there may be “a myriad of things” that could have caused it.
But until now, neither Stoll nor his club know what the real cause of the incident was. They suspect that a concussion which affected Stoll in the Kings’ playoff run that spring may have had something to do with it.
Moreover, Stoll suffered another concussion in the 2006-2007 season when he played against the Edmonton Oilers and had yet another one last season.
But Stoll’s problems with the police are not unique. The Kings had a lot of explaining to make when defenseman Slava Voynov was arrested in October and faced domestic violence charges after an ugly episode involving his Russian-born wife, Marta Varlamova. Voynov was suspended from the league, but as the Kings called him to a team practice, the entire team was fined $100,000.
Image Source: Total Pro Sports
Deborah Nielsen
Deborah Nielsen never thought she could be a journalist and a good one, we might add. Having a strong passion for music, she started singing at an early age, but it was only in college that she formed her first band. Her music education won her a job as a news reporter at the local radio station as well as the chance of meeting her favorite artists. In 2013, Deborah took things forward by starting her own blog and contributing to various news related websites. Currently, she covers a broad area of subjects and topics from various fields.
