Sulaimon Brown Arrested for Suspended Driver's License

Sulaimon Brown, the formal mayoral candidate at the center of a D.C. government hiring scandal, was arrested early this morning, accused  of driving with a suspended Maryland driver's license.

Police sources told News4 Brown was pulled over shortly after 1 a.m. for a broken headlight. When officers ran his driver's license, they learned that it had been suspended.

The officers asked asked Brown to get out of the vehicle, but he rolled up all of his windows, locked all of his doors and made a phone call, police said.

The officers, dressed in black, brandished a gun and threatened to break Brown's window if he didn't get out of the car, Brown said. He dialed 911 to determine that they were real police.

After a sergeant arrived at the scene and police asked Brown to get out of the vehicle several times, he eventually complied, police said.

Brown was taken into custody and has since been released.

"They gave me a $75 ticket, which is very excessive for a $4 light bulb," Brown said.

Police searched Brown's car and found a window placard that read "Metropolitan Police Department POLICE Official Business," police said. They are investigating why he had the placard.

The former mayoral candidate came into the spotlight amid claims that he was promised a $110,000 a year job in Mayor Vincent Gray's administration if he waged a negative campaign against Mayor Adrian Fenty. A special DC committee is investigating the allegations and the hiring practices of the Gray administration.

Brown has had other brushes with the law including a conviction in DC for unlawful entry. He was charged with attempted murder in Chicago in 1988, but was acquitted in that case.

Sulaimon Brown told News4's Tom Sherwood that the license was not suspended, but expired.

Check back with NBC Washington for more updates as they become available.

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