Old Man Wayne Rooney Was Arrested At Dulles Airport For Something Called "Public Intoxication/Swearing" [Update]

D.C. United captain and former Premier League champion Wayne Rooney was arrested in Dulles International Airport by Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police in December on charges of “public intoxication/swearing.” His case was taken to Loudoun General District Court, the county where the airport is located. Rooney was released on recognizance and paid a $25 fine ($91 total) on Jan. 4, according to court records.

Two days before the arrest, the former Manchester United star posted on Instagram that he was en route to Saudi Arabia in a private jet:

The Virginia code section that Rooney was arrested under (18.2-388) implies that he could have been taken in for swearing OR intoxication, not necessarily both. But given that Rooney’s past legal troubles have included drunk driving, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where this was just a case of his potty mouth. Per Virginia’s Legislative Information System:

If any person profanely curses or swears or is intoxicated in public, whether such intoxication results from alcohol, narcotic drug or other intoxicant or drug of whatever nature, he shall be deemed guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor. In any area in which there is located a court-approved detoxification center a law-enforcement officer may authorize the transportation, by police or otherwise, of public inebriates to such detoxification center in lieu of arrest; however, no person shall be involuntarily detained in such center.

Deadspin has contacted the arresting agency for more information and will update this post when it becomes available. Court records are below.

Update (1:56 p.m. ET): The official charge was for the “public intoxication” side of the code, according to ESPN.

A spokesman for Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said: “He was booked into the Loudoun County Adult Detention Centre on 16 December 2018, on a charge of public intoxication stemming from an arrest by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police (MWAA).