Thabo Sefolosha, the Hawks guard who was knocked out of the 2014-15 playoffs after breaking his leg in an encounter with the NYPD, rejected a plea deal on his charge of resisting arrest, and is taking his case to court. Sefolosha said he was handing a homeless man money when he was confronted by the police, and that he was targeted by an officer named JohnPaul Giacona.
According to TheNation.com, Sefolosha has several witnesses that back his account of the story, including teammate Pero Antic, as well as a homeless man who goes by the name of “True.”
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Sefolosha said Giacona told him “With or without a badge, I’m going to f— you up and I can f—you up.” Sefolosha claims he tried to explain what he was doing, but the cops rushed to take him down.
“I said, I’m just going to give the guy some money,’” Sefolosha said. “(The officer) grabbed my arm. I dropped the money. He said, ‘That’s it, you’re going to jail.’ I turned and tried to put my right hand behind my back. I had a lot of money in my left hand and I tried to put it in my pocket.”
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Sefolosha then claims they held him down, and he felt his leg go up and officers kicking it. In video from the incident, an officer is also seen swinging his baton down on Sefolosha, and that is reportedly when he sustained the fracture in his leg that knocked him out of the playoffs.
The police say that Sefolosha made what they interpreted as a “threatening gesture,” but True said that gesture was just Sefolosha handing him a $20 bill. Sefolosha’s attorney had this to say during his opening statements.
“I think [the NYPD] saw a black man in a hoodie. They grab him, they pounce on him, they pull him limb from limb, they smash him on the ground.”
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