According to News 4 Buffalo, Bills’ running back Marshawn Lynch was arrested in California last week on felony charges of possession of a concealed firearm.

Lynch was released on a $35,000 bond. The case now moves to the District Attorney.

This afternoon, the Buffalo Bills issued the following statement through VP of Communications Scott Berchtold:

“We can confirm that Marshawn was arrested in California and has retained an attorney. We are in the process of trying to gather the facts and will not offer a comment while that process is ongoing.”
It is the second brush with the law for Lynch in the last year. He was involved in a hit and run incident in downtown Buffalo in May 2008. He pled guilty to failing to use sufficient care to avoid hitting a pedestrian and was fined $100 dollars.

Lynch was not suspended by the NFL for that incident, but could face suspension this time for both the charge and repeat offender status.

There are two main problems here. One, this is Lynch’s second major off field incident in his career, the first being when he struck a woman with his SUV and then left her there to fend for herself. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will surely hand down a fine and suspension and the Bills could be without their starting running back for part of the season next year.

The second issue is what would have come from this situation had the police not stopped and arrested Lynch. What was the next move with the gun? Was he just carrying it for protection? Probably, but what if Lynch planned to use it? I can’t believe after all Plaxico Burress has gone through with his gun charge, that Lynch would be so stupid.