LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears stood by and supported Tank Johnson throughout a series of transgressions, but violating the club’s no-tolerance policy cost him his job.

Tank Johnson was waived by the Bears Monday.

The Bears on Monday waived the troubled defensive tackle, who had been pulled over and arrested by police in Arizona at 3:30 a.m. Friday.

“We are upset and embarrassed by Tank’s actions last week,” said general manager Jerry Angelo. “He compromised the credibility of our organization. We made it clear to him that he had no room for error. Our goal was to help someone through a difficult period in his life, but the effort needs to come from both sides. It didn’t, and we have decided to move on.”

Johnson was released from Cook County Jail May 13 after serving 60 days for a probation violation stemming from a gun charge. On June 4, he was suspended by the NFL without pay for the first eight games of the regular season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell gave Johnson an opportunity to reduce the suspension to six games in part if the 25-year-old had “no further adverse involvement with law enforcement.”

While in jail, Johnson was visited by several members of the Bears organization including Angelo, coach Lovie Smith, chairman of the board Michael McCaskey and several teammates.

“A lot of people within our organization gave extra time and energy to support Tank: players, coaches and our front office,” Smith said. “We did our best to establish an environment for him to move forward. Ultimately, Tank needed to live up to his side of the deal.”

“As far as the situation now, it’s very unfortunate,” said Bears cornerback Nathan Vasher. “Tank is one of my closest friends here in Chicago. It’s really hard to see him go through some of the things that he has.

"But I think sometimes the Bears were kind of pushed into a corner because we had been able to support him throughout this whole ordeal. I think you have to be accountable for your actions and the Chicago Bears had to do what was needed.”

Playing in 46 games with 15 starts in three seasons with the Bears, Johnson registered 101 tackles, nine sacks, six tackles for loss, four pass breakups and one forced fumble.

“I want to thank the Bears organization and fans for their support during this difficult time,” Johnson said in a statement released through his attorney, Lorna Propes. “I regret that I have to leave Chicago under these circumstances, and I wish my friends at the Chicago Bears nothing but the best.”

Johnson’s downward spiral began last Dec. 14 when he was charged with six misdemeanor counts of possession of a firearm without a Firearm Owner’s Identification card following a police raid on his Gurnee home.

The following night, Johnson and his friend, William Posey, who had been arrested and charged with felony marijuana possession during the police raid at Johnson’s home, ventured to a Chicago nightclub, where Posey was shot and killed.

Although Johnson wasn’t directly involved in the incident, the poor judgment he displayed by being present at the club during the shooting earned him a one-game suspension from the Bears.

He was on probation at the time after he had pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge that resulted after a nightclub valet alerted police about seeing a gun in his car.

Johnson initially violated his probation in February 2006 when he was arrested outside a Chicago nightclub. But prosecutors later dropped battery and resisting arrest charges.