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Wizards star Gilbert Arenas faces a charge of resisting arrest without violence, police said Sunday.

updated 8:43 p.m. ET May 28, 2006

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas and forward Awvee Storey have been arrested on charges of disobeying police.

Storey was blocking traffic in the middle of a busy street when an officer told him to get back to the sidewalk Saturday night, according to police reports. Storey didn’t get out of the street, and the officer arrested him and charged him with failure to obey a command.

While police were arresting Storey, Arenas got out of a vehicle and walked toward the arresting officers. According to reports, an officer told Arenas to get back in his vehicle, but he refused, saying he wanted to stand next to his teammate. The officer took Arenas into custody and charged him with resisting without violence.

As Arenas was being arrested, according to reports, he said, “You can’t arrest me. I’m a basketball player. I play for the Washington Wizards, and I’m not going to leave my teammate.”

Both players were then taken to jail for processing.

The Wizards released a statement saying, “We are aware of the situation and, until we have more information, we will have no comment.”

The two were arrested as part of a crackdown on disorderly behavior among those who flocked to Miami Beach for Memorial Day weekend.

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A total of 557 people were arrested between Thursday morning and Saturday night on Miami Beach. Most arrests were for disorderly conduct and intoxication. During the same three-day period last year, there were 333 arrests.

“We’re definitely over from last year,” Miami Beach police spokesman Bobby Hernandez said. “We’re working a lot more plainclothes officers, so you’re obviously going to make more arrests.”

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