NBA star Kevin Porter Jr. is in custody Monday at a New York City police precinct under suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend, two senior law enforcement sources told NBC.
A spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed to NBC that the 23-year-old Houston Rockets guard was in custody at the 17th Precinct in Midtown Manhattan and will be charged with assault and strangulation. The department, however, wouldn’t confirm the alleged victim is Porter’s girlfriend.
Police were called to the Millennium Hotel Broadway Times Square at 6:45 a.m., police said. Once there, officers saw “a 26-year-old female with a laceration to the right side of her face,” police said.
A preliminary investigation determined an individual, later identified as Bryan Kevin Porter Jr., his legal name, “struck her multiple times about the body and placed his hands around her neck,” police said.
The woman was taken to an area hospital in stable condition, police said.
The two senior law enforcement sources identified the woman as Porter’s girlfriend and said she was hospitalized with at least one broken bone and bruising.
The incident began after both Porter and his girlfriend had been out, the sources said. She later returned to the hotel room and he got locked out. That’s when the incident escalated and hotel security alerted police.
A representative of the Houston Rockets told NBC News Monday afternoon the team is in the process of gathering information about the matter involving Porter. The team has no additional comment, the representative said.
In October, Porter and the Rockets agreed to terms on a four-year, $82.5 million contract extension.
Porter’s behavior has caught the attention of the league and teams in the past, including a food-throwing incident when he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and refusing to play in the second half of a game while on the Rockets.
Porter averaged about 19 points, five rebounds and nearly six assists per game last season for the Rockets.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
