N.C. State's Thorton Arrested

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) â€” North Carolina State basketball star Damon Thornton was arrested on charges of driving while impaired after backing into a parked car. <br><br>Coach Herb Sendek indefinitely suspended

Thursday, October 12th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) â€” North Carolina State basketball star Damon Thornton was arrested on charges of driving while impaired after backing into a parked car.

Coach Herb Sendek indefinitely suspended Thornton from the team.

``This decision will best allow him to devote his full attention to this very important matter,'' the coach said.

Thornton also faces charges of driving without a license, hit-and-run, careless and reckless driving and resisting arrest.

Police said Thornton's blood-alcohol level was .14 â€” nearly double the legal limit in North Carolina.

Thornton backed teammate Damien Wilkins' car out of a cul-de-sac, through a stop sign and into a parked car before leaving the scene early Wednesday, police said.

Officers who saw the accident arrested him about a mile down the road.

Wilkins' car had about $5,000 in damage and the other car had about $2,000 in damage, according to police.

Thornton received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to charges stemming from disturbances at two Raleigh nightclubs in 1998.

Thornton, a senior forward, has led the Wolfpack in rebounding the last three years and is third in N.C. State history in career field goal percentage at .557.