Posted at the Wrestling Talk forum…
Olympic gold medalist and professional wrestling star Kurt Angle was charged Friday with driving under the influence.
Moon Township police said they received a call from a motorist at 1:49 p.m. complaining that someone driving a white Cadillac nearly struck his vehicle in a restaurant parking lot.
The motorist, who gave police the vehicle’s license plate number, also said the Cadillac was driving erratically on Beaver Grade Road and almost hit a traffic sign. Police tracked the Cadillac to Angle’s residence, which they did not identify.
Angle, 38, who has admitted an addiction to painkillers, told police he had been at the restaurant and driven home. He failed a sobriety test but refused a blood test. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance and careless driving. He was released to appear in court at a later date.
Angle, a Mount Lebanon native, is the current Total Nonstop Action Wrestling world champion. He could not be reached for comment.
A standout athlete at Mount Lebanon High School, Angle was a two-time NCAA Division 1 wrestling champion at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. He also won a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
In 1991 he joined the World Wrestling Federation, where he won numerous accolades. He left the organization, which had morphed into World Wrestling Entertainment, last year.
He joined TNA in September 2006 and soon after admitted to a painkiller addiction. He said last November, however, that he had been drug-free for more than a year.
In March, Sports Illustrated reported that Angle was one of dozens of prominent athletes to receive steroids from a Florida wellness center. Angle disputed the report on his Web site.
Angle and his wife, Karen, who has appeared with him ringside, have two children.
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