Black NFL player says cop pulled him over because he assumed Mercedes meant he was a drug dealer

Paul Richardson, who plays wide receiver for the Washington Redskins, claimed this week that a police officer in Virginia pulled him over and told him that he must be either a drug dealer or gang member because he was driving a Mercedes SUV.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Richardson claims he was pulled over by a Virginia state trooper on Tuesday and was immediately asked by the officer if he sold drugs.

"Before asking my name, he asked me if I was in a gang, then minutes later told me he thought I was a dealer (drugs)," Richardson wrote in a since-deleted tweet about the incident. "What a welcome to the east coast. Finished up with asking me how much car cost me."

Richardson, who played on the West Coast in Seattle before signing a five-year deal worth up to $40 million with Washington, said he deleted his original tweets because "tweeting about it wasn't the right way to deal" with the incident.

The Times-Dispatch reports that the Virginia State Police Department is aware of Richardson's claims and is now reviewing the incident.

"In a statement, police said that no formal complaint had been filed, but that they were looking into the matter," the publication writes. "The review would extend to the trooper's 'in-car camera footage of the traffic stop' to determine whether it conformed to state police policy."