Ex-Raider Marinovich Is Jailed Again, Accused of Violating Probation in O.C.

Former USC and Raiders quarterback Todd Marinovich, whose drug addiction derailed a promising football career, was ordered Wednesday to attend a hearing in Orange County’s drug court program after his most recent arrest.

Marinovich, 35, will remain in jail in Orange until the Tuesday hearing. He has had several drug-related arrests since his first, when he was at USC, and was arrested Friday night by Newport Beach police and accused of violating probation.

Officers checking a public bathroom near 58th Street, according to police, found the Balboa resident inside, along with a bicycle and an open shaving kit containing what appeared to be drug paraphernalia: a bent spoon and a syringe. Police Sgt. Bill Hartford said Marinovich fled on the bicycle and was arrested 15 blocks away and that the bag containing the objects was found the next day.

Marinovich pleaded not guilty Monday to resisting arrest. A pretrial hearing on the matter is set for Wednesday at the courthouse in Newport Beach.

During a brief court appearance Wednesday, Marinovich was pale and thin, his mustard-yellow jail uniform and a long-sleeved white T-shirt hanging on his 6-foot-5 frame. He was represented by a deputy public defender, who was unavailable for comment afterward.

Last summer, Marinovich was arrested by Newport Beach police who saw him skateboarding in a prohibited area. After a brief chase, police searched him and found methamphetamine and three syringes.

He pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and three years’ probation.

In previous interviews with The Times, Marinovich said his drug problem started at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo as a way to combat his shyness. He smoked marijuana with his football teammates and was derided with the nickname “Marijuana-vich.”

As a college student in January 1991, he was arrested by Newport Beach police on suspicion of possession of half a gram of cocaine and traces of marijuana. Charges were dropped a year later after he completed a drug-counseling program designed for first-time offenders and passed regular drug tests.

He majored in fine arts at USC, painting murals at eateries near campus and selling charcoal drawings of famous quarterbacks through memorabilia shops. On the police report for his Friday arrest, he listed his occupation as “unemployed artist.”

After two seasons as a Trojan, Marinovich joined the NFL, collecting $2.27 million in 1991 as a first-round draft pick by the then-Los Angeles Raiders. His well-publicized battle with drugs continued, and he was removed from the roster after two seasons.

Professionally adrift, Marinovich surfed in Hawaii and formed a band called Scurvy, in which he sang and played rhythm guitar. The band exposed him to harder drugs, including heroin, and when his next fling with professional football took him to Canada to play for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, he became a full-blown heroin addict, Marinovich later told The Times. He left the team after three weeks because he severely injured his knee.

In 1997, Marinovich was arrested by Orange County sheriff’s deputies and pleaded guilty to a felony charge of cultivating marijuana at his Dana Point home and a misdemeanor charge of illegally possessing prescription medicine. He served a three-month jail sentence before spending another three months in a private recovery program in Costa Mesa.

In March 2000, he joined the Los Angeles Avengers Arena Football team. Eight months later, he was arrested on suspicion of heroin possession. He remains on probation for that conviction.

He left the team after the 2001 arrest and generally remained out of the public eye until his August arrest.