Phoenix
police arrest WNBA star Griner and fiancee for assault
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[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.
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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.
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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.
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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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