A women alleges that former Washington Wizard Rod Strickland punched her, knocking her unconscious, when she asked him to stop kicking a friend of hers during a fracas last week outside a Prince George's County restaurant, according to a criminal complaint she filed in District Court.
Based on the allegation of Kristine Rachel Murphy, 21, a court commissioner issued an arrest warrant charging Strickland with second-degree assault. An attorney for Strickland, who was waived by the Wizards in February and played the remainder of last season with the Portland Trail Blazers, said that Strickland did not hit the woman.
"He never touched her," said Michael V. Statham, Strickland's attorney. "That allegation is absolutely not true."
"While he's trying to get a job with a team, this comes out. It's blatantly unfair," Statham said. Strickland, 35, is a free agent.
Prince George's police went to the fracas about 2 a.m. Sept. 12 at the TGI Friday's restaurant on Route 197 in Bowie, but did not arrest Strickland or anyone else. Police are investigating, a police spokeswoman said.
Statham said a police report written shortly after the incident shows his client did not hit the woman. He said he believes an arrest warrant was issued because Murphy did not know Strickland's address.
Murphy, a waitress at a nearby Applebee's restaurant, had gone to the Friday's restaurant for a meal after her shift had ended, according to her attorney.
In a report, a county police sergeant wrote that two witnesses reported seeing Strickland, soul singer Chico DeBarge and six other unidentified people punching and kicking someone other than Murphy in the restaurant parking lot.
"When that fight was over, one of the unknown suspects punched (Murphy) in the face, causing a 1-inch cut on her chin," the report said. John P. Valente, Murphy's attorney, said his client needed stitches to close the wound and was diagnosed at Prince George's Hospital Center as having a concussion.
Murphy asked Strickland to stop assaulting her male co-worker, at which point Strickland punched her in the face with a closed fist, Valente said. Valente said Murphy saw Strickland hit her but at the time did not know his name or that he played basketball professionally. Valente said he has interviewed two other witnesses who also said they saw Strickland hit Murphy.
In the District Court complaint she swore out, Murphy wrote that one of her co-workers was being kicked "and I don't remember anything else. All of the witnesses . . . said that Rod Strickland was the one that punched me."
