Wayne Rooney Arrested in December on Public Intoxication Charges

Wayne Rooney was arrested in December on charges of "public intoxication" and "swearing."

Erin Hawksworth of ABC7 News relayed the D.C. United forward's charge sheet and details of his release:

He was detained at the Loudon County Adult Detention Centre.

Rooney was subsequently freed on his own recognizance, but the 33-year-old did pay a fine worth $25 for the offence, which is thought to have taken place in Loudon County, Virginia on Sunday, December 16, according to The Athletic's Paul Tenorio and Pablo Maurer.

Rooney is said to have paid the fine Friday, January 4. On the same day, Rooney had looked toward the start of a new season with D.C. United:

Paying the fine has spared Rooney a hearing originally set for January 24.

He was arrested on a class four misdemeanour by officers of the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority. Rooney had attended the Riyadh Formula E Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia the day before, according to Jacob Murtagh of the Daily Mirror.

A spokesman for Rooney said the footballer "took a prescribed amount of sleeping tablets mixed with some alcohol consumption" on the flight back from Riyadh, per BBC Sport.

The combination left Rooney "disorientated on arrival."

D.C. United responded with the following statement, per the same source:

"We are aware of news reports indicating that Wayne Rooney was arrested in December. We understand the media's interest in this matter but we believe this is a private matter for Wayne that DC United will handle internally. We have no further comment on this situation."

This isn't Rooney's first scrape with the law or with issues related to intoxication. The former Everton and Manchester United star was arrested by Cheshire police in September 2017 and later charged with drink-driving during the early hours.

Rooney admitted the charges and entered a plea of guilty after being found to have been "almost three times" over the legal limit. England's all-time goalscorer later released a message of apology for his actions:

Rooney has been living in the United States since moving to Major League Soccer last summer. On the pitch, the move has proved a success, with Rooney winning the club MVP award after finishing as the team's top goalscorer.

He is still serving the remainder of a two-year ban from driving in the UK for his 2017 offence.