Body cam footage of former OSU quarterback Art Schlichter's cocaine arrest
By: The Ohio Highway Patrol has released body camera footage of the moments leading up to ex-Indianapolis Colts quarterback Art Schlichter’s Feb. 2 arrest for cocaine possession.
In the footage, an Ohio Highway Patrol officer finds Schlichter standing outside a disabled vehicle against a curb near East Hudson Street and Hamilton Avenue in Columbus. Schlichter tells the officer he struck something with his vehicle and his “tire is busted.” The officer notes that the vehicle’s axel has actually snapped, likely from striking the curb next to the vehicle.
While Schlichter attempts to call someone to pick him up, the officer sees drug paraphernalia on the car’s floorboard and searches Schlichter. Schlichter hands him two glass pipes.
Schlichter was charged with cocaine possession and possessing drug paraphernalia. According to a police report, the officer found cocaine in the vehicle when he searched it.
In the footage, Schlichter mentions twice he played for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
At the time of his arrest, Schlichter was serving probation. He was arrested for cocaine possession and sentenced to a year of probation in September after he was found unresponsive at an Ohio Hampton Inn in June 2022, less than a year after he was released from prison for federal fraud charges related to a massive ticket scheme that cost his victims millions of dollars. Inside Schlichter's hotel room, officers found a substance they believed to be cocaine after responding to a report of an overdose at the Hampton Inn on Lyman Drive in Hilliard.
Schlichter played for the Colts for four seasons before he was released for gambling in 1985. NFL players are forbidden from gambling. Before playing for the Colts, he was an Ohio State University quarterback.
In 2011, Schlichter pleaded guilty to charges of theft and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity for a fraudulent ticket-buying scheme. He was sentenced to 10 years and seven months in prison and released on parole on June 14, 2021.
Schlichter will appear in court Monday for arraignment in the Feb. 2 arrest.