Phoenix police arrest WNBA star Griner and fiancee for assault

[April 24, 2015]  By David Schwartz
 
 PHOENIX (Reuters) - U.S. women's basketball star Brittney Griner and her fiancee, fellow WNBA player Glory Johnson, have been arrested on disorderly conduct and assault charges after a fight at their Phoenix home, police said.

Griner, who has played with the Phoenix Mercury team since 2013, and Johnson, who plays for the Tulsa Shock, were booked into the Maricopa County Jail in Phoenix on Wednesday and released early on Thursday, authorities said.

Police went to the house the two 24-year-old women share in the city's western suburb of Goodyear after a 911 call about a fight on Wednesday afternoon.

"Upon arrival officers found the two had been in a physical fight with one another resulting in minor injuries to both," Lisa Kutis, spokeswoman for the Goodyear Police Department, said in a statement.

"They were both arrested and booked into 4th Avenue jail on assault and disorderly conduct charges," she said.

Griner, a 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter), two-time WNBA all-star, was a three-time All-American at Baylor and was voted most outstanding player of the Final Four in 2012, when Baylor won the national championship.

Johnson, who is 6 foot 3 (1.91 meter), was a WNBA all-star in 2014.

The couple announced their engagement last year.

A police report by the first officer on the scene said the person who called about the fight was Johnson's sister Judith.

"She advised the two females were currently in the living room throwing things at each other," the report said.

It said Griner told the officer the couple had been having shouting matches every day due to the stress of recently buying that home together, and of planning their wedding.

She described a four-to-six-minute fight with Johnson that began with them standing and ended on the floor, the report said. Both suffered minor lacerations, and Griner's left middle finger was bitten, it said.

The officer concluded from the evidence, including interviews with both women, Johnson's sister and another witness, that it appeared "mutual combat" occurred, with both behaving recklessly and causing each other physical injury as the onlookers tried to pull them apart.

They were taken into custody without incident, and a female police officer who searched and booked the suspects noted in the report that they were both "very cooperative."

WNBA spokeswoman Dina Skokos said the league is aware of the incident and is working with the Phoenix Mercury and Tulsa Shock organizations to obtain more information.

(Reporting by David Schwartz; Additional reporting by Steve Ginsburg in Washington; Additional reporting and writing by Daniel Wallis in Denver; Editing by Will Dunham, Bill Trott and Mohammad Zargham)

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