Dennis Rodman has been charged with a misdemeanor battery for allegedly slapping a man at his own birthday party in Florida back in May according to TMZ. Rodman was at the Buddha Sky Bar on May 17 when he “unprovokedly turned around and smacked” Jeff Soulouque. The former NBA star has already said that he’s innocent of the charge.
TMZ reports that Soulouque was hit by Rodman, but immediately apologized for the incident and invited him out to dinner the following night. However, Soulouque said he was hurt so bad, he went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a left corneal abrasion. Police launched an investigation and they interviewed a witness named David Lee Roth (not the singer) who was able to confirm Soulouque’s story.
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“Roth stated he was about twenty feet away and he saw Rodman turn around and open hand smack Soulouque two times,” the report states.
Rodman’s attorneys were in court on Thursday to enter a not guilty plea. If convicted, Rodman could see up to 12 months in jail and he would have to pay a $1,000 fine along with serving 12 months probation.
Fans had some interesting things to say about the news on Rodman.
One Twitter user wrote, “You should be honored you got slapped by Dennis Rodman,” while another user wrote, “Was it during a pickup game?”
Another was amazed by the police interview, writng: “Only in Florida… ‘Cops launched an investigation and called up a witness named David Lee Roth who, shockingly, is NOT the Van Halen singer.’”
This is not the first time Rodman has had issues with the law. Last year, the former Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons forward was arrested for DUI in California. He pleaded guilty to the charge and he avoided time in jail.
“He’s just been going through a lot of emotional issues in the past couple of months,” Rodman’s rep Darren Prince said in a TMZ interview at the time. “He’s battled alcohol issues over the years. I’d say going back a good 15-16 years it’s been going on. I just knew he was hitting a brick wall over the past couple of months, I knew that it was getting to a point where either he had to slow down or something was going to slow him down.”
Last week, Rodman asked NBA commissioner Adam Silver to go with him to China to help resolve their issues. Rodman wasn’t seen in China so it looked like Silver didn’t take him up on his offer.
