A former Chicago Bears All-Pro cornerback was arrested in Phoenix on charges of murder, police sources said.
Michael Richardson, 59, who won a Super Bowl with the Bears in 1985, was arrested on Wednesday on a second-degree murder charge in connection with the death of 47-year-old Ronald Like, 47, on Tuesday. several police sources told KNXV.
Tipo, who was discovered by police at an intersection, was rushed to a hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound and then died. Phoenix police investigated the shooting death as a homicide, the Arizona Republic reported.
Richardson, who lives in a gated community in East Mesa, also had an arrest warrant against him, according to court documents cited by KNXV.
Maricopa County prison records show that Richardson was held without bail on charges of murder, possession of a weapon by a banned person and possession of a dangerous drug for sale. He is due to appear in court on the warrant on January 6, the records show.
It is not clear whether Richardson hired a lawyer who could comment on the charges he faces.
Richardson, a native of Compton, California, was an early cornerback of the much-vaunted Bears defense in 1985 and was named a second team All-Pro in 1986. He was also featured in the team’s iconic “Super Bowl Shuffle” video, KNXV reported .
“I’m LA Mike and I play it cool, they don’t sneak past me because I’m not an idiot,” Richardson rhymed in the song.
Before being chosen by the Bears in 1983, Richardson was a prominent All-American at Arizona State University.
Wednesday’s arrest is the latest in a series of legal problems for Richardson. He had already been arrested twice this year by Phoenix police officers for alleged drug possession and was arrested in Maricopa County in 2018 on charges of theft and possession of methamphetamine, crack and heroin, KNXV reported.
In 2010, ESPN reported that Richardson was released from custody and had a 13-year prison sentence reduced by more than 10 years after a California appeals court ruled that he did not violate the terms of his probation in a prison sentence. 2008 for selling narcotics.
The incident led to Richardson’s 21st conviction on drug-related charges at the time – and his fifth crime in 16 years, ESPN reported.
Legal problems for Richardson began just three years after his last NFL season in San Francisco in 1989, when he was found guilty of two counts of drug offenses and received a four-year prison sentence, ESPN reported.
Richardson’s public defender, according to court transcripts, said Richardson’s “deep drug addiction” started when he was just 13.