Christmas was stopped by Highway Patrol Officers Dave Marcellino and Ivan Rosado on Nedro Avenue near Broad Street about 7:30 p.m. for driving erratically in a car with heavily tinted windows, said Highway Patrol Capt. Michael Cochrane.
Things got worse from there.
Christmas was driving without a license, and the officers found a Hi-Point 9mm semiautomatic handgun tucked under the driver's seat, Cochrane said. The weapon was loaded with seven rounds.
Christmas was taken to the 35th District's headquarters, at Broad and Champlost streets in Ogontz, where he was expected to be charged tonight with a felony weapons offense, police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said.
Police later learned that the car Christmas was driving belonged to Sixer forward/center Marreese Speights, Cochrane said. The 9mm apparently also was registered to Speights, he said.
Christmas had a passenger in the car, who was not identified by police or charged with any wrongdoing.
Michael Preston, a spokesman for the 76ers, said the team was aware of the situation but didn't have a comment.
Christmas is no longer on the roster so his arrest doesn't directly affect the team, but the fact that he was driving Speights car, carrying Speights loaded weapon might be an issue. I'm not a legal expert, so I have no idea, but it doesn't sound good, and it's definitely something you want your team to avoid on the eve of the regular season. All we can do is wait.