NEW YORK (AP) — An Ohio man was arrested for the throwing of a sex toy at a WNBA game in New York, police said Thursday.
It’s the latest development in a string of disturbances where similar toys were tossed at WNBA games across the country, resulting in at least three arrests.
Charles Burgess, 32, from Dayton, Ohio, was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of assault for allegedly throwing an object at the Dallas Wings vs. New York Liberty game on Aug. 5, hitting a 12-year-old girl, according to New York City police.
Burgess pleaded not guilty after driving from Ohio and voluntarily surrendering himself to New York authorities, his lawyer, Paul D’Emilia, said in an email to The Associated Press on Thursday. He was released pending his next court date in December.
D’Emilia said Burgess, an auto body shop owner with six children and no criminal record, intends to “vigorously fight these embellished and exaggerated charges.”
Court documents provided by the prosecutors say surveillance video shows Burgess pulling the sex toy from his pants and hurling it toward the court. But his lawyer says the video doesn’t appear to show anyone actually being struck by the projectile.
Similar disturbances happened during games in Atlanta on July 29 and Aug. 1, Los Angeles and Phoenix on Aug. 5, and Chicago on Aug. 1 and Aug. 7.
Some of the sex toys reached the court and caused game delays, while others landed in the crowds, such as in Phoenix where an 18-year-old was arrested.
Kaden Lopez told police it was a prank that had been trending on social media and he bought the toy a day earlier to take to the game. He was tackled at the arena by a volunteer who had allegedly witnessed him throwing it and began following him as he tried to leave the arena.
Police had said Lopez was arrested on suspicion of assault, disorderly conduct and publicly displaying explicit sexual material.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office told the AP in an email Thursday that the county’s Superior Court Commissioner “found no probable cause” for felony charges against Lopez, and his case was turned down with a recommendation that remaining misdemeanor charges be submitted to the Phoenix city prosecutor.
A man was also arrested in Georgia for the two toy-throwings at Atlanta Dream games, according to a police report.
Delbert Carver, 23, was charged with disorderly conduct, criminal trespassing, public indecency and indecent exposure. All four charges are misdemeanors in the state of Georgia, meaning that if he is convicted, the punishment for each can be a fine of up to $1,000 or jail time of up to 12 months. A misdemeanor for public indecency and indecent exposure may also require registration on the state’s sex offender list.
Carver told police “this was supposed to be a joke and the joke (was) supposed to go viral,” according to the report.
The AP wasn’t immediately able to acquire attorney information for Lopez or Carver.
The sex toy that landed on the court in Los Angeles nearly hit Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham.
League officials have said any person throwing objects onto the court will be ejected from the arena and face a minimum one-year ban from attending games.
Media reports on the disturbances have tied the toy-throwings to a group involved in a related Cryptocurrency meme coin.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
