Report: Kings' Matt Barnes Surrenders To NYPD In Nightclub Brawl Case
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Sacramento Kings forward Matt Barnes reportedly surrendered to New York City police Wednesday in connection with a nightclub brawl in December.
Barnes turned himself in at the 10th Precinct station house in Chelsea, the New York Post reported, citing law enforcement sources. He is expected to be issued a desk-appearance ticket for a misdemeanor assault charge.
The Dec. 5 melee at Avenue Nightclub in Chelsea began when Barnes got into an argument with a woman and began choking her, said two witnesses who were injured in the fracas. Jasmine Besiso, 26, and Myrone Powell, 35, claim they were innocent bystanders who got caught up in the brawl, which also allegedly included the Kings' DeMarcus Cousins and other patrons. The Kings were in town to play the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Powell said Cousins punched him in the head and that Barnes and other members of his entourage then began beating him. A photo shows Powell with two swollen eyes. Cousins was not charged.
Shortly after the incident, Barnes, 36, took to Instagram to defend himself.
"There's always two sides to a story.. The side the media consistently tries to paint of me…. And what actually happened! Don't believe everything you read," he wrote in a post, which has since been deleted.
A representative of Barnes' told TMZ.com in December that the player accidentally "butt bumped" a woman inside the club and that he merely defended himself after she and people she was with attacked him.
The NBA suspended Barnes for two games last season after he reportedly got into a fight and threatened former Knicks coach Derek Fisher in October 2015. The league said that incident happened after Fisher attended a gathering at the home of Barnes' estranged wife, Gloria Govan.
