Ben Cleveland was arrested as a result of a DUI incident on February 12, as detailed by TMZ. Documents from the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia indicate the Ravens offensive lineman is facing a pair of citations. 
Cleveland was cited on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol as well as failing to maintain lane. The 26-year-old was pulled over at roughly 10:25pm on the night in question, with the police report noting that he nearly swerved his truck into a ditch. Cleveland admitted upon being stopped to drinking “approximately 3-4 beers” at a country club before driving.
The former third-rounder was taken to a nearby jail after failing a field sobriety test. A Breathalyzer test was later administered, and Cleveland returned a BAC of .178, more than double the legal limit. The incident has produced a legal situation which will no doubt hinder the Georgia product’s free agent market to an extent.
Cleveland has spent his first four years with the Ravens, playing a combined total of 59 regular and postseason games. Only seven of those have been starts, though, as he has been unable to earn a first-team gig at either guard spot. A fresh start would have come as no surprise this spring, although this news could limit the number of suitors for his services.
Patrick Mekari logged left guard duties for much of the 2024 season, and he too is a pending free agent. He could cash in on the open market based on his 53 starts and positional versatility, but even in that case Cleveland did not appear to be a candidate for a second Ravens contract (or at least one offering a clear path to a first-team gig). If anything, this development will increase Baltimore’s chances of moving on during the offseason.
lol who cares, it’s a misdemeanor offense, if he’s good enough it won’t matter in free agency
Families who’ve lost loved ones to DUI accidents I’m sure care.
Should be stricter penalties for DUIs like losing your license for a year first go round
Second go round should be breathalyzer installed in your car at your own expense for 2 years
There’s really no excuse for driving drunk with Uber and Lyft and esp for an NFL player who offer their own driving services.
My opinion:
Penalties aren’t a problem so much as ease of enforcement is. It’s really easy to lose DUI cases based on (seemingly) irrelevant factors state to state like failure to Mirandize (despite not asking any questions), or a camera being out of position, or things like that. The case becomes more about getting your ducks in a row than it is about whether this person was driving with his/her ability to operate a motor vehicle materially and appreciably impaired.
6’6″ 350+ pounds… I feel sure it takes more than “3 or 4 beers” to blow a .178 in his situation…
To be clear, he didn’t indicate the size of those beers. They could have been 64-ounce growlers…
And he did qualify it with “approximately.” Maybe in his mind “20” is “approximately 3 or 4…”
Edward 40 hands seems right up his alley.
Yeah, at .178 it’s a challenge to stay conscious. Unless you truly can’t process alcohol, that’s a whole lot of drinks for a man that size.
That livers beat man the painkillers and the booze enough to be driving at almost .2 wild
How hard is it to stay out of trouble with duis? League literally has its own uber service
Future Chief.
‘Tis the season
If you’re taken to jail for suspected DUI and breathalyzer, and you fail the test, you don’t get a citation. You stay in jail to sober up. They usually don’t write a citation and let you walk out.
Citations can be written on arrestable offenses; at least, they can in most states. The thing that I have issue with more is the wording “arrested on suspicion of [insert crime].” You cannot be arrested on the “suspicion” of something; you get arrested because you are being accused of doing it.
On a DUI where you blow .178? Not sure who gets a ticket and walks out of jail.
You don’t walk out, in this case. You get cited, and stay in jail until your bond hearing, just like on a warrant.
In my state, all of the DUIs are written on citations, because the breath test machine requires a ticket number (not a warrant number), which is commonly referred to as a citation. The person still is arrested and goes the normal booking/bond procedure, but their charging document is a ticket (or citation). Citation doesn’t always mean that you walk; it’s just the charging document. In my state, they are used for any misdemeanor that is freshly committed, or any traffic offense (which would include DUI).
Being cited for DUI, and being arrested for DUi are two very different things. The article says cited, not arrested.
That’s what I’m saying. You can be arrested on a citation. They’re not necessary mutually exclusive. The article says that Cleveland “was taken to a nearby jail” after being arrested. That certainly implies that he, at a minimum, spent several hours in jail pending his bond hearing.
“Documents from the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia indicate the Ravens offensive lineman is facing a pair of citations. Cleveland was cited on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol as well as failing to maintain lane.”
Semantics, I know. Article says he was cited, not arrested and jailed, which the article should’ve said. A citation is an order to appear in court without jail. Like traffic tickets or jaywalking.
Well, that’s what I’m saying-a citation is not necessarily bereft of jail time. You can still be arrested and jailed on a citation. Citations have a court date at a later time, but you can still go to jail temporarily if you are arrested, or even be sentenced to prison time if found guilty on an eligible offense (meaning, on a charge that includes prison time as a possible punishment). Some traffic offenses (like DUI or driving under suspension or reckless driving) commonly carry prison time as a possible sentence.
In Georgia, which is similar to my state, citations can be written for misdemeanors and traffic offenses. The maximum jail time for those is mostly 12 months. If you arrested, you will also go to jail until you get a bond hearing, at which time you may get a bond and be released until your court date. Most people do get bonds, as you are by default entitled to one, and the state has to prove that there is some special circumstance to prevent you from getting that (like being a flight risk or being a danger to the community, both of which have high standards as well).
I will also note that prison and jail are terms used interchangeably in colloquial speak, but being jailed isn’t 1-for-1 with being imprisoned. People who are arrested go to detention centers, commonly called jails, which hold them until their bond hearings (or conclusion of trial if bond is not granted). Prisons are built for long term housing after sentencing. There are exceptions, of course.
So what I’m saying is that that definition is not correct. Citations CAN include jail time. I do not mean any disrespect when I say that, and I hope that I don’t come off that way, especially because I really value your commentary here.
None taken! Difference in wording, that’s all. The article made it seem like he was cited and released. Not arrested and jailed.
Another Raven in the news