Saturday, November 2, 2024

Sources: LiAngelo Ball, 2 other UCLA players arrested in China

November 8, 2017 by  
Filed under Latest Lingerie News

Comments Off

10:35 PM ET

Three UCLA men’s basketball players — including LiAngelo Ball, the younger brother of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball — were arrested in China just days before Friday’s season-opening game against Georgia Tech in Shanghai, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.

One source told ESPN the group of players — which also included freshmen Cody Riley and Jalen Hill — was arrested on shoplifting charges.

The players are being questioned about stealing from a Louis Vuitton store that is located next to the team’s hotel in Hangzhou, where the Bruins had been staying before moving on to Shanghai on Wednesday.

A source tells ESPN the three players are not currently with the team in Shanghai, where UCLA was scheduled to practice Wednesday.

“We are aware of a situation involving UCLA student-athletes in Hangzhou, China,” UCLA said in a statement. “The University is cooperating fully with local authorities on this matter, and we have no further comment at this time.”

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said the conference was directing specifics about what transpired to UCLA.

“We are very disappointed by any situation that detracts from the positive student-athlete educational and cultural experience that this week is about,” Scott said. “Whether in the United States or abroad, we expect our student-athletes to uphold the highest standards. We will continue to closely monitor the situation.”

LaVar Ball; his wife, Tina; and LaMelo Ball were having breakfast with the UCLA team in Shanghai on Wednesday morning. LaVar Ball was expected to address the media from his hotel suite Wednesday morning in Shanghai, but he said he was advised by counsel not to speak “due to the legal nature of the matter.”

One source told ESPN that nearly 20 police officers came into the Hyatt Hangzhou at approximately 8 a.m. local taime Tuesday and spoke to multiple players from both Georgia Tech and UCLA. The players, according to the source, were kept in a room for hours and not allowed to speak to any of the coaches.

“They weren’t messing around,” the source told ESPN. “The kids were scared.”

The Georgia Tech players were allowed to leave the room hours later, and the UCLA players were seen getting into a police vehicle around 1 p.m. local time, according to the source.

Georgia Tech released a statement to ESPN on Tuesday, saying that three of their players were questioned by local authorities at their hotel.

“During the questioning, it was determined that Georgia Tech student-athletes were not involved in the activities being investigated,” Georgia Tech said in the statement. “They have resumed their scheduled activities in advance of Saturday’s season opener versus UCLA in Shanghai.”

The teams are scheduled to visit Shanghai Disney Resort on Wednesday.

ESPN’s Arash Markazi contributed to this report.

Share and Enjoy

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • LinkedIn
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Charges dropped against woman who laughed at Trump nominee Sessions

November 8, 2017 by  
Filed under Latest Lingerie News

Comments Off

(Reuters) – A peace activist who laughed at then U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions during his confirmation hearing to become U.S. attorney general will no longer be prosecuted on charges of disrupting a session of Congress and demonstrating at the Capitol.

The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia filed court papers on Monday, notifying a judge her office was dropping its case against Desiree Fairooz, a children’s librarian.

Fairooz had faced up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine if she were convicted on both charges at trial.

She belonged to Code Pink, an anti-war group that often stages protests against politicians. The group accused federal prosecutors of overreaching and wasting money on the case.

“We hope they will scale back this massive overreach and that the success we just saw in Desiree’s case will encourage more people to protest in the halls of Congress and on the streets,” Code Pink said in a statement on Tuesday.

Fairooz laughed during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in January, after a lawmaker’s asserted Sessions treated all Americans equally. It was at the confirmation hearing for Sessions, who was then a Republican senator from Alabama and was later confirmed to become U.S. attorney general.

Fairooz shouted, “This man is evil, pure evil” as police led her away. A jury found Fairooz guilty in May of disrupting a session of Congress and demonstrating on Capitol grounds.

But a judge for the District of Columbia Superior Court overturned the guilty verdict in July and ordered a new trial. Chief Judge Robert Morin found it was unclear whether Fairooz was convicted for laughter or for speaking out as she was removed, Fairooz’s attorney, Samuel Bogash, said at the time.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia said in an email on Tuesday that his office had no comment on the decision to dismiss the case.

A second trial for Fairooz had been scheduled for Nov. 13, but Morin canceled it after prosecutors dropped the case.

Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; editing by Grant McCool and Richard Pullin

Share and Enjoy

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • LinkedIn
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS