Ex-Viking Everson Griffen accused of more risky driving, this time touching 130 mph on I-494

Former Minnesota Viking Everson Griffen is again facing allegations of risky actions, this time getting ticketed for going 130 miles per hour on a Twin Cities interstate while on probation for drunken driving.

The 37-year-old Griffen was stopped about 10:15 p.m. Friday in Minnetonka by police on southbound Interstate 494 near Stone Road, according to court records.

The citation, for misdemeanor reckless driving and petty misdemeanor speeding, says Griffen was driving a Bentley Bentayga SUV at 130 mph. That’s more than double the 60 mph speed limit on that stretch of interstate.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reached out to Griffen on Wednesday regarding the traffic stop.

Griffen, who has remained in the Twin Cities after his retirement, was accused in July of creating a scene soon after takeoff from Chicago to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, according to TMZ Sports.

Delta Air Lines said pilots went back to O’Hare International Airport “to have an unruly passenger removed.”

Griffen released a statement to the Minnesota Star Tribune that said his behavior “was not unruly at all. Why would they let me go?”

In July 2023, he was stopped in Chanhassen and accused of driving 60 mph in a 40 mph zone. His blood-alcohol content was 0.09%. Griffen pleaded guilty to a reduced careless driving charge in February 2024 and was placed on a year’s probation.

In the months following that allegation, Griffen crashed his car into a fence and gazebo in Mound on Oct. 28, 2023. He was cited for failure to drive with due care, a petty misdemeanor.

On Dec. 7, 2023, in Shakopee, police stopped Griffen for driving 55 mph in a 30 mph zone. He was convicted of a petty misdemeanor in that case as well.

In December 2021, following multiple troubling incidents, Griffen announced on social media that he had been living with bipolar disorder.

Griffen called 911 shortly after 3 a.m. from his Minnetrista home on Nov. 24, 2021, saying someone was with him, and he needed help. He also told the dispatcher he fired one round from a gun, but no one was wounded, police said. They added that no intruder was found.

He also spent four weeks undergoing mental health treatment in 2018 after two incidents that September — one at the Hotel Ivy in downtown Minneapolis, the other at his home — that prompted police involvement. He later revealed he lived in a sober house for the remainder of the 2018 season.