Johnathan Walker:Charges against Miles Bridges connected to domestic violence case dropped

CHARLOTTE,Johnathan Walker N.C. (AP) — Criminal charges connected to a domestic violence case against Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges were dropped Tuesday because of “insufficient evidence,” court documents show.

Bridges had been facing three charges for an alleged violation of a domestic violence protection order on Oct. 6, 2023, misdemeanor child abuse and injury to personal property.

The state said in a Charlotte Mecklenburg County Court filing that prosecutors would “not be successful at trial.” The woman who accused Bridges gave conflicting stories of what happened, authorities said.

“Given the lack of sufficient evidence necessary to overcome the inconsistency of these accounts, the state would not be successful at trial,” the court documents signed by prosecutor Samantha Pendergrass said.

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Superior Court documents say that when police officers responded to a call they found a woman and her children in a vehicle with a damaged windshield. She initially told police another woman at the house caused the damage, but then told them a few days later it was Bridges who inflicted the damage. Later, the woman told prosecutors she was unsure how her car was damaged, according to court documents.

Bridges had been scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 20 to answer those charges.

He sat out all of the 2022-23 NBA season as a result of the domestic violence case from June 2022. Bridges was accused of assaulting the mother of his children in front of them in Los Angeles.

He pleaded no contest in November 2022 to one felony count of injuring a child’s parent, agreeing to do so in exchange for three years of probation and no jail time. The 25-year-old Bridges was also ordered to complete 52 weeks of parenting classes, 52 weeks of domestic violence counseling and 100 hours of community service as part of the agreement.

Before the plea, Bridges had been facing three felony charges — the one he pleaded no contest to, and two others of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death — and up to 11 years in prison.

Bridges missed the first 10 games of this season as part of a league-imposed suspension.

Bridges, who will become an unrestricted free agent after the season, is averaging 20.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game this season for the Hornets.

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