Scottie Pippen has been questioned by police in a case of assault with a deadly weapon after the Bulls great allegedly attacked a man in Malibu, Calif., on Sunday night, according to TMZ.
The altercation started outside of popular restaurant Nobu when a man in his 50s asked Pippen for an autograph. Pippen refused and the situation escalated to the point that Pippen allegedly knocked the man unconscious by kicking him. The deadly weapon in the report refers to the Hall of Famer’s shoes.
It was originally reported Pippen was arrested after he turned himself into authorities, but the police opted not to arrest him after speaking with him.
Pippen came in voluntarily to a substation after he was named as a suspect in an investigation of an assault with intent to commit great bodily injury, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said. He was there for about an hour and was released pending further investigation.
“He’s being cooperative,” sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said.
“He beat the f— out of him,” one source told the website of the 47-year-old Pippen.
The victim was released from the hospital with broken teeth, a swollen mouth, as well as back and head injuries, a family member told TMZ.
Investigators were interviewing several witnesses who apparently saw what transpired.
“Right now it’s under investigation,” Whitmore said. “We have to interview everybody to find out what happened.”
Whitmore described the case as “complicated” and said there was no timetable for announcing whether charges would be brought.
Several witnesses described the man as intoxicated, Whitmore said.
The 47-year-old Pippen won six NBA titles with Michael Jordan and the Bulls, and in 1996 was named one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
Pippen is a special adviser to the Bulls’ president and chief operating officer. The team declined to comment yesterday.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press