NBA: Pelicans’ Jaxson Hayes faces 12 misdemeanor charges
FILE–Jaxson Hayes #10 of the New Orleans Pelicans reacts after he is fouled during the fourth quarter of a NBA game against the Golden State Warriors at Smoothie King Center on January 06, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Sean Gardner/Getty Images/AFP
New Orleans Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes faces 12 misdemeanor charges stemming from a July incident involving Los Angeles police officers, TMZ Sports reported Monday.
Hayes, 21, was charged Monday in Los Angeles County on counts including inflicting corporal injury, destroying property and using force and violence against a police officer, per the report.
Body-cam footage of the arrest released by the Los Angeles Police Department this summer showed an officer using a stun gun on Hayes’ chest as officers held him down and attempted to subdue him.
The LAPD was responding to a 911 call from a cousin of Hayes’ girlfriend, who told a dispatcher the couple was arguing and that Hayes had become “loud and violent.”
Hayes and another man, whom he identified as his cousin, met with police outside the house.
“We were just having a little argument. She was throwing some stuff at me,” Hayes told the responding officers.
But when they told Hayes to stay outside while they talked to his girlfriend inside the house, authorities say Hayes objected and insisted the police needed a warrant to go inside.
The officers told Hayes he was wrong and continued toward the house, with Hayes arguing along the way.
When the police neared the door, they attempted to detain Hayes, who appeared to shove one officer into a wall before he was wrestled to the ground.
Hayes, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, is averaging 6.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 14.0 minutes in 33 games off the Pelicans’ bench this season.
