NEW YORK — A professional basketball player was about to give a handout to a man asking for money when police officers took him to the ground and arrested him, a former teammate testified Wednesday.
Ex-Atlanta Hawks power forward Pero Antic said he was sitting in an Uber car with the door open near a trendy Manhattan nightclub in the early hours of April 8 when he heard officers arguing with guard-forward Thabo Sefolosha as he tried to give a beggar money.
“They didn’t allow him to give the money,” said Antic, who was also arrested after he climbed out of the car and touched an officer’s shoulder while asking why his friend was being placed under arrest. “The police officers arrested him before he got to.”
Sefolosha has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor obstructing government administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest charges stemming from the confrontation with police outside the 1Oak nightclub. Charges against Antic have been dropped. Prosecutors have said in court papers that Sefolosha was lunging toward an officer when he was confronted.
The Swiss national’s leg was fractured in the struggle. His attorney has argued that injury was caused by the officers, one of whom had a baton in his hand during the confrontation.