Attorney Says Deputy in Shoving Incident With Toronto Raptors President on Medical Leave

Update, May 19, 8 a.m.

An Alameda County deputy is on medical leave after an altercation with Masai Ujiri, the president of basketball operations for the Toronto Raptors, according to the deputy’s attorney David Mastagni.

Mastagni said his client also a concussion from the incident.

Ujiri was attempting to celebrate with his team on the court after the NBA Championship game Thursday when he was stopped by the deputy checking for credentials.

Ujiri allegedly pushed the deputy who then pushed back and then followed with a more serious shove that struck the deputy’s head, according to Mastagni.

Mastagni said all legal options are on the table.

“This was an unprovoked significant hit in the jaw resulting in a serious concussion, a temporal medibulor joint injury, which is a serious jaw injury,” said Mastagni.

Alameda County Sheriff Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said the department will recommend a misdemeanor batter charge against Ujiri.

The team said it will cooperate with the investigation.

Original Story

Prosecutors will decide whether to charge Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri with misdemeanor battery after he was accused of shoving and hitting a sheriff’s deputy in the face while trying to join his team on the court to celebrate their first NBA championship.

Alameda County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said investigators are reviewing footage from body cameras worn by the deputy and other officers, the stadium’s surveillance video and cellphone video. He said a report will be forwarded to prosecutors sometime later this week and the office will likely recommend a charge of misdemeanor battery against an officer. At that point, it will be up to the district attorney’s office whether to charge Ujiri.

Despite some misunderstandings online and in the press, Kelly is not the deputy in question.

The name of the officer is not currently being released, partially because he is a victim, said Kelly, and partially because “there’s a tremendous amount of threats that have been made against the deputy,” he said.

After the game Thursday night in Oakland against the Golden State Warriors, Ujiri tried to walk past the deputy who was checking court-access credentials, Kelly said. When the deputy stopped him, Ujiri shoved him back several feet and yelled obscenities, according to Kelly.

“That’s when our deputy goes hands-on and moves Mr. Ujiri back from the court. Mr. Ujiri made a second, more significant shove and during that shove his arm struck our deputy in the side of the head,” Kelly said.

The deputy complained of pain in his jaw and was taken to a hospital for evaluation and later released.

A video of the altercation obtained by NBC Bay Area shows Ujiri and a deputy being held back courtside by several bystanders. It doesn’t show the scuffle. The video appeared to show Ujiri holding some type of credential in his right hand while standing by the court.

Greg Wiener, a 61-year-old Warriors’ season ticket holder, said he was standing next to the deputy during the encounter and didn’t see Ujiri strike him in the face.

Wiener said the encounter began when the deputy put his hand on Ujiri’s chest and pushed him. Ujiri shoved him back before bystanders intervened, Wiener said.

“The thing about the cops saying the policeman asked for his credentials, that didn’t happen. There was no conversation at all,” Wiener said. “This part about striking him in the face, yeah that didn’t happen.”

As of Friday, Wiener said he hadn’t been interviewed by authorities.

Kelly said deputies took witness statements and were reviewing footage from body cameras worn by the deputy along with footage from the arena surveillance system and cellphones.

“We had the opportunity to make an arrest and we chose not to,” Kelly said. “We decided it would be in everyone’s best interest to slow things down and do an investigation.”

The Raptors said the team is also looking into the altercation and cooperating with authorities. “We look forward to resolving the situation,” said an official statement from the team.

NBA spokesman Mike Bass said the league also was cooperating with authorities.

“We are in contact with the Raptors and local authorities and in the process of gathering more information,” Bass said.

Ujiri had watched the end of the game on television with other team officials outside the Raptors’ locker room. He then went down a tunnel to join the on-court celebration.

Kelly said deputies had instructions to strictly enforce the NBA’s credential policy.

He said his office will recommend a charge of misdemeanor battery against an officer even though he understood that Ujiri had a tremendous amount of emotion while trying to meet his team on the court.

“It will be up to the DA to file charges,” Kelly said. A spokeswoman for the Alameda County district attorney’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Toronto Mayor John Tory came to Ujiri’s defense.

“Anybody who knows anything about him would say that some notion that he would be shoving people around in Oakland or elsewhere in the world is not credible,” Tory said.

Last week, the NBA banned Golden State Warriors investor Mark Stevens from games for a year and fined him $500,000 after he was seen on camera apparently shoving Toronto star Kyle Lowry during Game 3 of the playoffs.

Lowry had dived into a row of courtside seats to try to save a loose ball. Stevens, wearing an NBA-issued credential, was seated about two spots away from where Lowry landed and shoved Lowry in the upper body.

Lowry said Stevens repeated a vulgar phrase to him about four times. The Warriors issued a statement, with the team and Stevens apologizing to Lowry and the Raptors.

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Gillies reported from Toronto.

Additional reporting from KQED staff.