Richard Dumas Jr., a former star player for the Phoenix Suns during their legendary 1992-1993 season, was arrested on Thursday in connection with organized retail theft.
Specifics about Dumas' alleged crimes weren't readily available, but the U.S. Marshals Service in Phoenix announced the ex-Sun had been picked up as part of a multi-agency roundup of all sorts of crime suspects.
Ironically, Dumas told the Arizona Republic in a May 20 article by Paul Coro, "Now I've got to work for a living."
See also: - A Tale of Talent Wasted
Dumas "lost all his NBA fortune on drugs, back taxes and a divorce," Coro wrote in May.
As the above-linked 1994 article in this publication written by the late Tom Fitzpatrick shows, Dumas' problems go way back.
Now he's looking at what may be his rock bottom: A felony grand jury indictment on eight counts of organized retail theft.
A booking sheet states that the offense took place on July 31, although the multiple counts suggests this was no one-day spree.
He was arrested without incident just before 2 p.m. on Thursday at 505 East Plaza Circle, Litchfield Park, headquarters of Richard Dumas and Friends Athletic Association, a youth basketball organization. He was later released after posting a $7,500 bond and given a December 26 arraignment date.
"Operation Grinch Stopper 2" was the name of the roundup, the Marshals Service says. Twenty-seven agencies participated, resulting in 112 arrests in Maricopa and Pinal counties. The first "Grinch Stopper" came last year in response to the shooting of Tucson police Sergeant Robert Carpenter, who'd been responding to a burglary. He survived his injuries.
The roundup also picked up Luke Cross, 29, suspected in a series of high-end bicycle thefts in Idaho that police said are drug-related. After trying to sell a bike to a pawn shop on November 1, he reportedly assaulted a shopper with a golf club and then tried to run over a store employee who'd chased him out to the parking lot. He was arrested at a Mesa healthcare facility without trouble.
"As prosecutors, we welcome the opportunity to hold accountable those who unlawfully take from others in this season of giving," Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said in a written statement.
