Lamar Odom In Car Accident Days Before DUI Arrest

Lamar Odom was in a car accident days before he was arrested for DUI Friday.

The 33-year-old former Lakers player was the driver who caused a chain reaction collision last Sunday. The accident happened during the 72-hour period that Odom allegedly “went missing.”

The crash wasn’t reported to police, so there was no record of it. But a Los Angeles Times article published Friday afternoon said that their reporter, Adolfo Flores, was rear-ended by the car that Odom hit with his white Mercedes SUV — the same car he was driving when he was arrested Friday morning. The accident also happened just off the 101 Freeway, which Odom was driving on at the time of his arrest.

According to the Times, Flores got out of his car to exchange information with the other drivers. When he asked Odom for his information, he said the NBA free agent asked him why he needed it. Flores said he needed it because they were in a car accident, and Odom said, “It didn’t even look that bad.”

Flores said his car and the other car sustained moderate damage to their bumpers, and Odom’s car had damage near the driver’s side headlight. It wasn’t clear if that damage was from Sunday’s accident.

When Flores finally obtained information from Odom’s insurance form, he tried to give it back three times, but he wouldn’t take it. Flores asked if Odom wanted him to keep it, and the basketball player said, “No, I need it to drive” before taking it.

Lamar Odom was arrested at 3:54 am Friday in San Fernando Valley for “driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.” He was pulled over by California Highway Patrol for driving slow on the 101 Freeway, 50 mph. Odom initially did not respond to CHP, and drove past three exits before finally coming to a stop. He showed obvious signs of intoxication and failed several field sobriety tests. He was arrested and booked at a nearby police station, where he refused all chemical tests. He was held on $15,000 bail and released at 8:33 am.

Lamar Odom had his license suspended Friday afternoon after the arrest.

[Photo credit: s_bukley / Shutterstock.com]