Reports: Charges expected for five Pacers, five Detroit fans in basketball brawl

AP ^ | 12/7/4

[SmithL]

DETROIT -- Five Indiana Pacers players and five Detroit Pistons fans were expected to be charged with assault Wednesday in a brawl that broke out on the basketball court and spilled into the stands at The Palace of Auburn Hills last month, according to news reports.

All charges are expected to be for misdemeanor assault and battery -- except for one count of felony assault against a fan accused of throwing a chair, according to reports citing unidentified sources in Wednesday editions of the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News and a Tuesday report on WDIV-TV.

"I'm not going to confirm anything," Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca told The Associated Press on Tuesday night. He said he would not comment until 2 p.m. EST Wednesday, when he had scheduled a news conference to announce the charges.

The reports said Pacers player Jermaine O'Neal was expected to face two counts of misdemeanor assault and battery, while teammates Ron Artest, David Harrison, Stephen Jackson and Anthony Johnson were expected to face one count each.

Five fans were expected to face misdemeanor assault and battery charges, the reports said.

[SmithL]

...and a hockey game broke out.

[chemainus]

the hoodlums and hip-hoppers we call atheletes today disgust me as do the organizations and unions that bulwark them...thugs, hooligans, degenerates at worst; paid gladiators at best

[judywillow]

hoodlum sport...

[LasVegasMac]

What "accomplishments" shall the hip-hop culture achieve next?

When P Diddly hits Nascar, sports, as we know it, will then truly be over.

LVM

[mrfixit514]

Players get misdemeanors for beating the crap out of fans while a fan is charged with a felony for throwing a beer on a player. The players should be charged with felonies.

So help me, I will never watch one second of an NBA game ever again.