What Colts GM Chris Ballard said on Keenan Allen arrest

INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts believe that veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen is a good person who made a mistake that led to his arrest over the weekend. Allen was charged with misdemeanors for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OVWI) and OVWI endangering a person.

Allen, 34, will play in the team’s season opener against Baltimore on Sept. 13, and he was participating in practice when the team returned to work Tuesday.

“I’m not going to comment on what happened, but what I’m going to tell you is good people make mistakes,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard said. “He’s a tremendous human being. Give him some grace, and he’ll work through the process of the legal system.”

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The Colts do have ride-share services available to players to avoid Allen’s situation.

Indianapolis has imposed its own consequences.

“We handled everything internally with us,” Ballard said. “The rest is a league matter.”

Allen has handled his reaction to the team well, according to Ballard.

“Like you’d expect a person who cares about other people to react,” Ballard said.

The Colts did not consider releasing Allen, who signed late in training camp. Ballard said that the Colts handle every situation on a case-by-case basis, and although Allen is new to Indianapolis, the veteran receiver is a known commodity to the decision-makers inside the building.

“Fourteen years in the league with no issues,” Ballard said. “Decorated career, decorated teammate. You know our relationship with Philip Rivers, Philip knows him, and Shane Steichen obviously has a relationship with him. … We feel good, unequivocally about who Keenan is.”

Asked repeatedly about Allen’s mistake, Ballard emphasized the need to give Allen grace.

“That’s one of our problems now (as a society), we don’t give anybody grace,” Ballard said. “Over time, he’ll prove himself to the city.”

Allen was arrested early Sunday morning around 1 a.m., just hours after he’d made his on-field debut for the Colts blocks away at Lucas Oil Stadium in the preseason finale. According to a public police report viewed by IndyStar, IMPD officers conducted a traffic investigation in the 100 block of S. Meridian Street after observing a vehicle sitting in a no-parking zone at 110 S. Meridian St. The officers then proceeded to speak with the driver, who they later identified as Allen “and noticed signs of intoxication,” according to a statement from IMPD.

Following a further investigation, Allen was arrested on a pair of preliminary misdemeanor charges of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OVWI) — with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher — and OVWI endangering a person.

Allen spent more than 12 hours in police custody before he was released from the Marion County Arrestee Processing Center at 3:49 p.m. Sunday afternoon, according to inmate records. The Colts receiver now has an upcoming court date Sept. 16, three days after the Colts’ season-opener at Lucas Oil Stadium against the Ravens.

Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Coltsall season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What Colts GM Chris Ballard said on Keenan Allen arrest

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