Vanderbilt basketball's Lee Dort arrested on aggravated assault by strangulation charge
Vanderbilt basketball forward Lee Dort was arrested on a felony charge of aggravated assault by strangulation following a domestic disturbance on campus Sunday morning, according to an arrest affidavit acquired by The Tennessean.
Vanderbilt police received a call at 1:14 a.m. Sunday to report screams heard from a dorm room at McTyeire Hall. Dort's ex-girlfriend told police that Dort, who turned 21 on Saturday, had taken her phone and shoved her against the wall and bedpost in her Vanderbilt dorm room. After he held her against the bedpost, she said she slid down on the bed, and he gripped her neck.
The ex-girlfriend had a scratch on her shoulder and a red mark on her upper arm when officers investigated.
The Tennessean does not generally identify victims of domestic assault without that individual's permission.
Officers made contact with Dort at Memorial Gymnasium, where the basketball team plays its games. Dort was read his Miranda Rights and questioned, according to the affidavit.
Dort was booked into jail by the Davidson County Sheriff's Office and held on a $10,000 bond at 5:40 a.m. Sunday. Dort was released Sunday afternoon and has been suspended from the basketball program "pending the outcomes of the university's and the legal system's processes," Vanderbilt spokesperson Jacob Bell said in a statement.
Dort is a sophomore on the basketball team. In 2022-23, he played in 17 games and averaged 1.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
He missed the first four games of this season with injury before scoring one point and grabbing two rebounds against NC State in the Vegas Challenge tournament over Thanksgiving week. He did not play in the next game, a loss to Arizona State.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Lee Dort of Vanderbilt basketball arrested on assault by strangulation
