Police Pursuing Misdemeanor Charge Against Raptors' Masai Ujiri for Sideline Altercation
The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is pursuing a misdemeanor charge against Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri for his alleged involvement in an altercation with a sheriff's deputy after the team won their first NBA title over the Warriors on Thursday night, according to USA Today's Dan Wolken.
A spokesperson for the department told Wolken that the sheriff's office is pursuing a charge for simple battery of a police officer.
According to NBC Bay Area, the sheriff’s office said that the deputy was pushed and struck in the face.
Ujiri was reportedly denied access to the court and the team's celebration because he did not have the correct credentials to be allowed on the floor.
"[The deputy] did not know who the man was and asked for the credential, and that’s when he tried to push past our deputy, and our deputy pushed him back, and there was another push that kind of moved up and struck our deputy in the face," Sheriff’s office spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly told the San Francisco Chronicle. "At that point, several bystanders intervened and the executive did ultimately get back onto the court without displaying credentials."
"It’s not like we were going to chase him down," Kelly said. "He had a right to be there, but he didn’t follow the credential policy."
Ujiri, 48, has been with the Raptors since 2013. Before that, he was the general manager of the Denver Nuggets, winning Executive of the Year in 2013.
A Raptors spokesperson told USA Today that the team is aware of the situation but had no further comment at the time.
No one has been arrested and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office will be looking at the incident to see if charges will be filed.
