Pelicans’ Jaxson Hayes facing 12 charges, including battery against an officer, after July arrest
New Orleans Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes was charged with 12 different counts on Monday after he was arrested last summer in Los Angeles, according to ESPN.
Hayes was charged with three counts of inflicting corporal injury to a spouse, two counts of domestic battery, one count of battery against an officer, one count of false imprisonment, three counts of vandalism, one count of aggravated trespassing and one count of resisting arrest, per the report. He was charged on Jan. 20, and then arraigned on Monday morning.
"Since before the charges were filed, the Pelicans have worked in conjunction with the NBA on the matter and will continue to do so moving forward," the team said in a statement, via ESPN.
Jaxson Hayes arrested in L.A. in July
Hayes was arrested on July 28 at a Los Angeles-area home he was staying at. Police said they were summoned to the home on a domestic disturbance call after a cousin of Hayes’ girlfriend called and said she was texted by Hayes’ girlfriend that he had become loud and violent.
Footage from the incident showed police arriving at the home and speaking with Hayes and others in the driveway. Hayes, who was not armed, then became agitated and started arguing with officers after they wouldn’t let him go back inside.
Things quickly escalated, and officers wrestled Hayes to the ground. One officer then placed his knee into Hayes’ neck while he was on his back. The knee was there for a few seconds before another officer stepped in and told the initial officer to move it. Hayes gasped out at least four times that he couldn’t breathe. He then gasped, “I’m a blessed soul,” after it was removed.
Hayes was eventually tased and then taken into custody.
The LAPD outlawed neck restraints after the murder of George Floyd. The police department announced days after Hayes’ arrest that it was launching an investigation into the force used on Hayes.
Hayes has averaged 6.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 33 games off the bench this season for the Pelicans, his third with the team. The 21-year-old is in the third year of his initial four-year, $22 million deal.
