Los Angeles professional sports are intersecting in a very unfortunate way this week.
Samson Nacua, the older brother of Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, has been arrested for allegedly stealing a car belonging to Los Angeles Lakers forward Adou Thiero, NBC4 Los Angeles reported on Wednesday. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says that Samson was one of two men arrested last weekend for supposedly taking Thiero’s SUV without his consent.
The vehicle was tracked to the One Hotel in West Hollywood, Calif., where the two men are said to have valeted the car prior to entering the hotel. After reviewing security footage, sheriff’s deputies identified and located the suspects and took them into custody on suspicion of stealing the SUV.
The suspects were identified as Samson and one Trey Rose, both 27 years old. Now they are each facing a charge of taking a vehicle without consent, and they both reportedly remain in jail. You can read NBC4 Los Angeles’ full report on the situation here.
Samson is himself a pro wide receiver who previously played with his younger brother Puka in college at BYU. After going undrafted in 2022, Samson spent time on the offseason rosters of the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints (once making a crazy play in a preseason game for the Saints). He had most recently played professionally for the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League (UFL) earlier this year.
You may recall that Samson was also recently investigated over a video of him slapping a fan during a UFL game.
As for Theiro, he is a 21-year-old rookie forward for the Lakers who went to them with the No. 36 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft. Theiro, who played his college ball at Kentucky before transferring over to Arkansas, has averaged just 1.1 points per game over nine appearances for the Lakers this season. After being involved in a notable game-ball controversy earlier this year, Thiero now finds himself as the alleged victim of a criminal situation.
