From Lateef Mungin, CNN
(CNN) — A Texas judge has set bond for Dallas Cowboys nose tackle Josh Brent at $500,000 after Brent’s arrest in a weekend car crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown Jr.
Brent appeared for arraignment Sunday morning and did not did not enter a plea during the brief hearing in Irving, Texas, the Dallas suburb where the Cowboys are based, according to a detention officer. The officer requested anonymity because she was not authorized to talk to news outlets.
Brent was arrested on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter after a Mercedes he was driving flipped and caught fire early Saturday morning, Irving police said. They said Brent’s car was traveling at high speed when it hit a curb, and officers on the scene “believed alcohol was a contributing factor in the crash.”
The car traveled about 900 feet after hitting the curb, said police spokesman John Argumaniz. When officers got to the scene, Brent was dragging Brown from the car, he said. The 25-year-old Brown, an outside linebacker on the Dallas practice squad, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Brent, 24, is in his third season with the Cowboys. The charge he faces is a second-degree felony that carries a potential two- to 20-year prison sentence with a maximum $10,000 fine.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Saturday, “We are deeply saddened by the news of this accident and the passing of Jerry Brown.”
“At this time, our hearts and prayers and deepest sympathies are with the members of Jerry’s family and all of those who knew him and loved him,” he said in a statement.
Brent pleaded guilty to a DUI charge in 2009, according to court records in Champaign, Illinois, where he played football with Brown at the University of Illinois. He received a 60-day sentence, a fine and 200 hours of community service.
CNN’s Chandler Friedman and Jason Durand contributed to this report.
