Post by MizzouTiger on Feb 16, 2008 9:23:33 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/sports/story/492121.html
Missouri guards charged with third-degree assault
By MIKE DeARMOND
The Kansas City Star
Missouri guards Jason Horton and Stefhon Hannah were charged Friday with third-degree assault with bodily harm stemming from a Jan. 27 fight outside the Athena Night Club in Columbia.
Horton’s misdemeanor charge was listed for the first time Friday on the Missouri courts Web site. The Associated Press confirmed with the Boone County court record’s office that Hannah was charged with the same misdemeanor offense.
Hannah, whose jaw was broken in the nightclub incident, was dismissed Tuesday from the MU basketball team by coach Mike Anderson for lack of commitment to academics.
A probable-cause statement provided to the Associated Press provides additional details on the incident.
What follows is according to that statement:
Hannah, over what he considered poor service, confronted an unidentified restaurant employee around 1 a.m.
The employee told police and prosecutors that while he was locking the door at closing time Hannah pushed him from behind. Horton then approached the pair as if to break up the disagreement, but before he could intervene, Hannah punched the employee in the face.
The employee then grabbed Hannah by the shirt collar “and pulled himself into Hannah so as not to be struck again.” At that point, Horton hit the employee on the right side of the neck.
The employee said he held on to Hannah while avoiding additional punches thrown by Horton. The two fell.
An unidentified co-worker then came to the employee’s assistance. The co-worker, who broke Hannah’s jaw, said that he punched Hannah only after the player tried to hit him.
Assistant prosecuting attorney Richard Hicks said he didn’t file criminal charges against the co-worker because the man was defending the unidentified employee.
“This individual was acting in lawful defense of another,” Hicks told the Associated Press.
Neither Horton nor Hannah could be reached for comment late Friday.
Hannah went home to Chicago after being released from University Hospital, where he underwent surgery. He missed 12 days of classes before being dismissed from the team while being allowed the opportunity to continue his education at MU with athletic scholarship assistance.
Horton served a two-game suspension but will be in the playing rotation when the Tigers take on Kansas State today in Manhattan, Kan., according to MU assistant sports information director Dave Reiter.
“As far as we’re concerned, our side of it is done,” Reiter told The Star on Friday.
Meanwhile, Missouri has no doubt what awaits in what cannot be a very happy Manhattan, Kan. A packed Bramlage Coliseum united by the singular thought that the Wildcats owe these Tigers one.
“I think they do,” forward Marshall Brown said. “They know they do.”
“We beat them (in Columbia), and it was a game where a lot of people didn’t expect us to win. And a lot of people are not going to expect us to win on Saturday.
“But everybody in our league is very beatable on any given night. It’s been proven throughout the whole conference.”
Missouri guards charged with third-degree assault
By MIKE DeARMOND
The Kansas City Star
Missouri guards Jason Horton and Stefhon Hannah were charged Friday with third-degree assault with bodily harm stemming from a Jan. 27 fight outside the Athena Night Club in Columbia.
Horton’s misdemeanor charge was listed for the first time Friday on the Missouri courts Web site. The Associated Press confirmed with the Boone County court record’s office that Hannah was charged with the same misdemeanor offense.
Hannah, whose jaw was broken in the nightclub incident, was dismissed Tuesday from the MU basketball team by coach Mike Anderson for lack of commitment to academics.
A probable-cause statement provided to the Associated Press provides additional details on the incident.
What follows is according to that statement:
Hannah, over what he considered poor service, confronted an unidentified restaurant employee around 1 a.m.
The employee told police and prosecutors that while he was locking the door at closing time Hannah pushed him from behind. Horton then approached the pair as if to break up the disagreement, but before he could intervene, Hannah punched the employee in the face.
The employee then grabbed Hannah by the shirt collar “and pulled himself into Hannah so as not to be struck again.” At that point, Horton hit the employee on the right side of the neck.
The employee said he held on to Hannah while avoiding additional punches thrown by Horton. The two fell.
An unidentified co-worker then came to the employee’s assistance. The co-worker, who broke Hannah’s jaw, said that he punched Hannah only after the player tried to hit him.
Assistant prosecuting attorney Richard Hicks said he didn’t file criminal charges against the co-worker because the man was defending the unidentified employee.
“This individual was acting in lawful defense of another,” Hicks told the Associated Press.
Neither Horton nor Hannah could be reached for comment late Friday.
Hannah went home to Chicago after being released from University Hospital, where he underwent surgery. He missed 12 days of classes before being dismissed from the team while being allowed the opportunity to continue his education at MU with athletic scholarship assistance.
Horton served a two-game suspension but will be in the playing rotation when the Tigers take on Kansas State today in Manhattan, Kan., according to MU assistant sports information director Dave Reiter.
“As far as we’re concerned, our side of it is done,” Reiter told The Star on Friday.
Meanwhile, Missouri has no doubt what awaits in what cannot be a very happy Manhattan, Kan. A packed Bramlage Coliseum united by the singular thought that the Wildcats owe these Tigers one.
“I think they do,” forward Marshall Brown said. “They know they do.”
“We beat them (in Columbia), and it was a game where a lot of people didn’t expect us to win. And a lot of people are not going to expect us to win on Saturday.
“But everybody in our league is very beatable on any given night. It’s been proven throughout the whole conference.”