Roger Clemens’s ex-trainer arrested on DWI charges

Long Beach resident Brian McNamee, Roger Clemens’s former trainer and the chief accuser in the 2007 Mitchell Report on the use of steroids and human growth hormone in Major League Baseball, was arrested on Monday and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

The incident occurred at 8:40 p.m., when Long Beach police responded to a collision near the intersection of Long Beach Boulevard and East Park Avenue. Police said that a motorist was stopped at the traffic light on the westbound side of Park and Long Beach Boulevard when McNamee, 48, exited the Mobil gas station and attempted to cross two lanes of traffic in his 2002 GMC Envoy.

McNamee struck the vehicle that was stopped at the light, striking the passenger side’s rear-quarter panel. Police said no passengers were in either vehicle and that no injuries were reported.

However, police said McNamee appeared intoxicated and was arrested at the scene. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, driving while ability impaired by drugs, driving while ability impaired by the combination of drugs or alcohol, and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, all misdemeanors, as well as other violations.

McNamee faces a maximum of one year in jail on the top count. He was arraigned at Long Beach City Court and bail was set at $5,000 bond or $2,500 cash. McNamee represented himself at his arraignment and appeared in court again on Wednesday. His attorney, Mitchell Barnett, did not immediately return a call for comment. McNamee could not be reached for comment. According to the Daily News, he was released on bail.

McNamee was one of the government’s star witnesses against Clemens, who prosecutors claimed lied to Congress in 2008, when he said he never used performance-enhancing drugs. McNamee testified that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone between 1998 and 2001.

In 2010, Clemens pleaded not guilty after a federal grand jury indicted him on six felony counts involving perjury, making false statements and obstruction of Congress. Clemens was found not guilty in 2012 and acquitted.