According to two senior law enforcement sources who spoke to NBC, NBA star Kevin Porter Jr. is being held Monday at a police station in New York City on suspicion of hitting his fiancée.
A representative for the NYPD confirmed to NBC that the 23-year-old Houston Rockets player was being held in the Midtown Manhattan 17th Precinct and would face assault and strangulation charges. The agency, nevertheless, declined to confirm that the claimed victim is Porter’s girlfriend.
At 6:45 in the morning, cops were reportedly called to the Millennium Hotel Broadway Times Square. “A 26-year-old female who had a laceration to the right side of her face,” according to police, was there when officers arrived.
A guy, later identified as Bryan Kevin Porter Jr., his official name, “struck her repeatedly about the body and put his hands around her neck,” according to a preliminary inquiry, police said.
Police reported that the woman was transported to a nearby hospital in stable condition.
The woman was admitted to the hospital with at least one fractured bone and bruising, according to the two senior law enforcement sources who identified the woman as Porter’s girlfriend.
Porter and his girlfriend had both been out when the confrontation started, according to the sources. He was locked out of the hotel room when she subsequently came back. When the situation worsened, hotel security called the police.
A four-year, $82.5 million deal agreement between Porter and the Rockets was reached in October.
The NBA and teams have already taken notice of Porter’s behavior due to incidents involving him tossing food while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers and refusing to participate in a game’s second half while with the Houston Rockets.
Porter had a season-high 19 points, five rebounds, and almost six assists for the Rockets.