SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — A former NASCAR driver has been arrested for the third time in three weeks, this time for investigation of drug possession.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department said James Edward Neal was arrested Friday, hours after bailing out of jail on charges of attempting to rape a woman. Authorities said a bail bondsman who went to look for Neal saw methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in his hotel.
The 56-year-old San Clemente man was arrested May 17 after leading deputies on a high-speed chase in a Corvette. Hours after completing sentencing on charges stemming from the chase, he was arrested Monday on suspicion of trying to rape a woman he had met just once.
Neal was a NASCAR driver in the early 1980s. Deputies did not know if he had an attorney.