BOSTON (AP) -- Former New England Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes was cited by state police Friday for rear-ending another vehicle on a Massachusetts highway then leaving the scene.
Spikes, 27, is accused of leaving the scene of an accident causing injury, speeding, driving negligently and failing to stay within marked lanes.
He will be summoned to Wrentham District Court at a date to be determined.
Spikes' Mercedes-Benz Maybach was found abandoned in the median of Interstate 495 in Foxborough at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday with heavy front-end damage. At about the same time, police responded to a report that a Nissan Murano SUV had been struck from behind by a vehicle that left the scene. Three members of the same family from Billerica, including a 12-year-old boy, were treated at the hospital for minor injuries.
"The charges against Spikes are the result of a comprehensive investigation that determined that Spikes' Maybach was the car that struck the Murano and that Spikes was driving the car at the time of the crash," state police spokesman David Procopio said in a statement.
The Patriots cut Spikes on Monday.
Neither Spikes nor his agent have commented. A phone message left with his agent Friday was not immediately returned.
Just before Spikes' car was found by state troopers, the driver reported through the car's OnStar navigation system that it hit a deer. No deer was found.
Spikes was drafted by the Patriots in 2010 in the second round out of Florida, spending the first four years of his career with New England. He spent last season with the Buffalo Bills before re-signing with the Patriots last month.
In 66 career games he has 384 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, seven forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.
Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press