Ratliff Verbally Abusive to Officers After Arrest: Police

Grapevine police say Dallas Cowboys player Jay Ratliff went from cooperative to verbally abusive while refusing to a breath test after a crash early Tuesday.

Ratliff was arrested on suspicion of intoxicated driving after a collision with an 18-wheeler along state Highway 114.

Police were alerted to the crash by 911 calls shortly after the crash. The responding officers learned that Ratliff, who was driving a pickup truck, turned into the big rig before crashing into a barrier wall.

During questioning at the crash scene, Ratliff told officers that was heading home to Southlake from Arlington after "chillin' with a homegirl." Officers said they noticed during the discussion that Ratliff smelled of alcohol and had watery, blood-shot eyes.

Ratliff was asked to take a field sobriety test, which he failed. Police said he started walking too soon, missed putting his heel to his toes and couldn't correctly turn around.

Police reported that Ratliff went from cooperative at the crash scene to verbally abusive at the police department, where he refused to take a Breathalyzer test. Officers obtained a warrant and forced Ratliff to take a blood test at a hospital.

Results of the blood test could take up to 10 days.

Sgt. Robert Eberling said the starting nose tackle failed as a community role model and failed to prove he hadn't been drinking before he got behind the wheel of his pickup truck.

"When you're in that type of position, everyone would want to hold you to a higher standard," he said. "I think he failed in this situation. In this situation, it's fortunate that no one was severely injured. Certainly, looking at the accident report, it could have easily been a fatality. It was a pretty extensive accident/crash."

Ratliff is free on bond.

A spokesman for the Dallas Cowboys said Wednesday night that the team had no comment on Ratliff's arrest.

His arrest comes less than a month after fellow defensive lineman Josh Brent was indicted on one count of intoxication manslaughter for his role in a crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown Jr.

"We're disappointed that this has allegedly happened, especially following the death of a teammate six weeks ago," said Jeff Miracle, MADD North Texas executive director. "MADD is continuing its partnership with the Cowboys to try and discover ways to avoid events like this from taking place in the future."

Miracle said he and other top MADD leaders have a meeting set up with the leaders of the Dallas Cowboys after the Super Bowl. The meeting was initiated after Brent was seen on national television smiling on the sidelines of a Cowboys game a week after his arrest.

"That should have been a wake-up call for him, for the whole team and the NFL," Cowboys fan Edgar Aguillar said. "They should have been like, 'We're getting paid all this money, and one simple mistake can make all that go away.'"

"He made a mistake; he's going to learn from it," said Gabriel Perez, another fan. "I don't know why he doesn't take advantage of the NFL thing where they pick you up and take you home for free -- I wish my job offered that."

NBC 5's Ellen Goldberg contributed to this report.

Contact Us