Raiders' Kemah Siverand Arrested in Street Racing Incident, Facing Felony Charges

Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Kemah Siverand was arrested just after midnight on Saturday after allegedly participating in a street racing incident in Houston. He is now facing felony charges of evading arrest. Two others were arrested in the incident on lesser charges.

The Houston Police Department provided details about the incident on Monday. The department announced that officers spotted five cars racing on the North Loop East highway, northeast of downtown Houston. The officers were able to stop three of the five cars, which included the Houston native in Siverand. The cornerback initially stopped for police, but he drove for another mile before stopping.

Siverand was arrested just after midnight and was booked into jail before 2:30 a.m. He was charged with felony evading arrest using a vehicle. He posted a $2,500 bond and appeared in court on Monday for a preliminary hearing. The other two drivers — Illsen Urruita, 19, and Rolando Macias, 19, both face charges of racing on the highway.

"The highways are supposed to be for the safe and efficient movement of people and goods," Chief Art Acevedo said on Monday. "Not for people, especially men in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, to think that they're a part in the Fast and the Furious."

An undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma State, Siverand landed with the Seattle Seahawks prior to the 2020 season. However, his time with the team came to an end in August after breaking an important rule. He tried to sneak a female companion into the team hotel.

According to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero, Siverand was caught on video attempting to sneak a woman into the team hotel. The footage did not release to the public, but Pelissero said the woman was wearing Seahawks gear in an attempt to disguise her as a player. NFL teams urged players to avoid contact with people outside of the organization during training camp in order to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19.

Siverand spent three seasons at Texas A&M before transferring to Oklahoma State to finish his college career. In his two seasons at Oklahoma State, Siverand recorded 11 total tackles and one fumble recovery in 26 games. In his three seasons at Texas A&M, Siverand started at wide receiver and just caught one pass for 16 yards, he then moved over to defense at the start of his sophomore season.

He spent the second half of the 2020 season on the Raiders practice squad following the incident at the team hotel and subsequent release. Siverand signed a futures contract with the Raiders after the season came to an end and was set to return to the team for offseason workouts and OTAs. Now he will deal with legal issues that could disrupt his career.