Wife blames ex-Bear husband for gun in car
The wife of former Bears defensive tackle Steve "Mongo" McMichael told officers during her arrest last week that a loaded handgun found in the trunk of the car she was driving belonged to her husband, Lincolnshire police said.
Police Chief Randy Melvin said Misty McMichael, 36, of 4250 N. Marine Drive, Chicago, was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of marijuana and speeding in connection with the Aug. 10 arrest.
Steve McMichael issued a statement defending his wife.
John Zomot, 40, of 3455 W. Irving Park Road, Chicago, was arrested with Misty McMichael. He was charged with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and unlawful possession of marijuana.
Melvin said Misty McMichael was driving a 2003 four-door Cadillac east on Route 22, just past the Des Plaines River bridge in Lincolnshire, when she was stopped for traveling 56 mph in a 35 mph zone.
An officer who approached the car noticed a strong odor of what he believed was marijuana and ordered McMichael and Zomot to exit the vehicle about 2:35 p.m., Melvin said.
Police searched the interior, Melvin said, and found three marijuana cigarettes, a smoking pipe and two small plastic containers with pot.
When officers looked in the trunk, the chief said, they found the loaded .45-caliber weapon and two magazines each containing 17 rounds of ammunition.
"She (Misty) said the handgun belonged to her husband," Melvin said. "She wasn't aware it was in the vehicle."
In the statement released by his publicist, Steve McMichael said Misty is pregnant and would never endanger the health of the couple's first child.
"Misty absolutely had not been smoking marijuana previous to being stopped by the police and told this fact to the police officer. It is important for everyone to know that Misty offered to take a field sobriety test and the officers felt it was unnecessary," Steve McMichael said.
"I also want to make clear that the marijuana found in the car did not belong to my wife nor did the gun in the trunk."
Publicist Betsy Shepherd said she could not go beyond the statement and address the police contention that Misty McMichael blamed her husband for the loaded weapon in the car trunk. She said the McMichaels were out of town Thursday.
Steve McMichael played for the Super Bowl XX champion Bears. He now coaches the Chicago Slaughter indoor football team based in the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.
Misty McMichael and Zomot remain free on $1,000 personal recognizance bonds. She and Zomot are to appear in Lake County circuit court's Mundelein branch Sept. 24.