Charlotte Hornets Player Jeff Taylor Arrested in Misdemeanor Case
Jeff Taylor, the 25-year-old forward for the Charlotte Hornets, out of North Carolina, was arrested and charged with several crimes in Michigan, after he allegedly assaulted both his girlfriend and a hotel employee in an East Lansing Hotel just days ago.
According to the East Lansing Police Department, officers were dispatched to the East Lansing Marriott at University Place, at about 1 am in the morning for a domestic assault call. While the details surrounding the incident are not clear, and police have said that they don’t intend to release a police report until the investigation is complete, it is known that Taylor was arrested at the scene.
Taylor was charged in 54B District Court in East Lansing, with single counts of domestic assault, assault and battery, and malicious destruction of property for the damage he allegedly did to the hotel suite. All of these charges are misdemeanors, and Taylor is facing up to a year in jail as a result. Court records show that he pleaded not guilty to the charges.
According to court documents, prosecutors are asserting that Taylor assaulted his girlfriend, who is a current student at MSU, along with a Marriott employee. It is not known in what capacity they were injured. It is also claimed that Taylor damaged hotel property totalling somewhere between $200 and $1,000.
Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA has made a public statement that the league intends to review their policies regarding domestic assault as a result of the media storm surrounding recent events that have plagued the NFL for similar reasons.
“We learn from other league’s experiences. We’re studying everything that’s been happening in the NFL,” Silver explained. “We’re working with our players’ association [and new executive director Michele Roberts]. We’ve been talking for several weeks, and we’re going to take a fresh look at everything we do.”
Rich Cho, the Hornets general manager has also made a public statement that the team has chosen to suspend Taylor from all team related activities until a thorough investigation has been conducted into the incident by the NBA.
The judge set his bond at $5,000 because he has “no ties to the area”, making him a flight risk. Taylor has since posted bail and been released. His pretrial court date has been scheduled for October 8th at the East Lansing District Court. Court records also show that jury selection is set to begin on October 14th, however Taylor has the option of a bench trial instead.