Devils Associate Coach Andrew Brunette Arrested For DUI

Published|Updated

Former Florida Panthers interim head coach and current New Jersey Devils associate coach Andrew Brunette has been arrested for DUI in Florida.

Miami TV station WPLG Local 10 obtained an arrest report for the incident. They say that police were writing a citation for an illegally parked golf cart outside of a bar in Deerfield Beach. That's when Brunette walked out of the bar and told police he was leaving in his golf cart.

Authorities observed the coach slurring his speech and noticed he was unsteady on his feet when they handed him his citation. Seventeen minutes later, Brunette got in the golf cart and drove off, but ignored two stop signs in the process. Deputies saw that and pulled him over.

According to WPLG, the arrest report says that Brunette handed over the registration and proof of insurance for the golf cart, but handed them his wife's driver's license instead of his own. Police had Brunette performs a field sobriety test before taking him to Broward County Main Jail. Deputies charged Brunette with DUI and two counts of disobeying stop signs and was released on $500 bond.

Andrew Brunette led the Florida Panthers to a President's Trophy as interim head coach last season. (David Santiago/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Brunette Arrived In New jersey After Leading Panthers To President's Trophy

Brunette is currently an associate coach to Devils head coach Lindy Ruff. The team told The New York Post in a statement that they are still gathering information on the situation.

Last season, Brunette took over as the interim head coach of the Florida Panthers. He took over after the team dismissed then-head coach Joel Quenneville. He went on to lead the Panthers to a stellar, President's Trophy-winning season. However, his team was knocked out of the playoffs in the second round.

To the surprise of many, the team decided to hire former Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice instead of removing Brunette's interim tag.

Before he got into coaching, Brunette played 16 seasons in the NHL. He played for the Capitals, Predators, Thrashers, Wild, avalanche, and Blackhawks.

Follow on OutKick: @Matt_Reigle

Tags
Written by
Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.