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Steelers cornerback Justin Layne had a rough morning. According to Colin Dunlap of 93.7 The Fan, Layne got arrested in Lack County, Ohio with a firearm while speeding on a suspended license. Layne was pulled over on Interstate 90 at 1:20 a.m. near Layne's hometown of Cleveland.
According to Melinda Roeder of KDKA, Willoughby Hill Police Chief confirmed that Layne also had an outstanding warrant for his arrest on a traffic violation. In addition, marijuana was found in the car, along with a loaded 9mm Glock. Two men in the car with him were not charged.
According to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Willoughby police chief Matt Naegele told the Post-Gazette that Layne was arrested early this morning and charged with a fourth-degree felony for improper handling of a firearm. Layne was pulled over for doing 89 mph in a 60 mph zone. During the stop it was discovered Layne was driving with a suspended license and there was a warrant for another traffic violation for which he did not appear.
Fittipaldo reports that Layne had no drug charges but was also cited for speeding. A Steelers spokesman said the team is aware of the incident and is gathering information, but they will have no further comment at this time.
Layne is expected to be in a bigger role this season as either the No. 3 or No. 4 cornerback with Mike Hilton signing with the Bengals in free agency and Steven Nelson being released as a cap casualty.
Mike Tomlin surely will have a talk with Layne about this mishap, and hopefully, for Layne's sake, it's the last one. Tomlin has no patience for incidents like this.
Layne, 23, was drafted by the Steelers in the third-round out of Michigan State in 2019. Layne has appeared in 26 games the last two years and has no starts, contributing mostly on special teams. Undrafted rookie free agent James Pierre got defensive snaps over Layne in the wild-card game loss to the Browns this past season.
(Credit: Lake County Detention Center)