OAKLAND, Calif. – A California law enforcement officer who sued the president of the Toronto Raptors for a fight in 2019, following the NBA team’s victory over the Golden State Warriors, dropped the lawsuit Wednesday.
The Raptors had just won their first title at the Oracle Arena in Oakland on June 13, 2019, when Raptors President Masai Ujiri entered the field to join his celebratory team.
Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputy Alan Strickland claimed in a federal lawsuit filed in February last year that he stopped Ujiri for failing to provide proper credentials, which led to a pushy match that was partially captured on video. Strickland claimed that Ujiri had hit him “in the face and in the chest with both fists”, tried to avoid him and repeatedly ignored stop orders.
The lawsuit alleges that Strickland suffered “physical, mental, emotional and economic harm”, including loss of wages, loss of opportunity for financial gain and future earning capacity. He also mentioned past and future medical expenses and care and named his wife as the applicant. The lawsuit sought $ 75,000 in damages.
Lawyers for Strickland did not immediately respond to emails from the Associated Press requesting comments.
In August, Ujiri’s lawyers filed a lawsuit, saying the footage showed that Strickland was the “undisputed initial aggressor” in the confrontation and that new evidence would justify Ujiri.
One of his lawyers, Tamarah Prevost, said Ujiri on Wednesday dropped his lawsuit against Strickland, claiming that Strickland had used excessive force against him and stressed that he had never been treated with such disrespect. if it weren’t black.
Prevost declined to comment and sent all inquiries to the team.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns Raptors, said in a statement that Ujiri “was completely justified.”
“We are pleased that the legal process has ended – and especially pleased that the claims against Masai and MLSE have been rejected in their entirety, without any financial statement,” the company said. “We continue to be deeply troubled by the fact that Masai was put in this position in the first place and we believe that he should never have defended himself. Masai takes some time to process the ordeal and intends to address the public at a later date. “