Hornets' Miles Bridges pleads not guilty to domestic violence

Hornets forward Miles Bridges pleaded not guilty Wednesday to felony domestic violence charges in Los Angeles County.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges pleaded not guilty Wednesday to felony domestic violence charges filed by Los Angeles County prosecutors after he was accused of assaulting his girlfriend in front of their two children.

District Attorney George Gascón announced Tuesday that his office filed one felony count of injuring a child’s parent and two felony counts of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death.

Bridges entered not guilty pleas during an arraignment, the DA’s office said.

Bridges was arrested on June 29 by Los Angeles police and was later released on $130,000 bond.

The Hornets and the NBA both said they were aware of the charges filed against Bridges.

“These are very serious charges that we will continue to monitor,” the Hornets said. “As this is a legal matter, we will have no further comment at this time.”

#Hornets statement on Miles Bridges: pic.twitter.com/OQqwYx3H0N

— Rod Boone (@rodboone) July 20, 2022

Mychelle Johnson, the mother of Bridges’ two young children, addressed the incident on Instagram on July 1, posting several pictures of injuries and a medical report that read “adult victim of physical abuse by male partner; Assault by strangulation, Brain concussion; Closed fracture of nasal bone; Contusion of rib; Multiple bruises; Strain of neck muscle.”

“I hate that it has come to this but I can’t be silent anymore. I’ve allowed someone to destroy my home, abuse me in every way possible and traumatize our kids for life,” Johnson wrote on Instagram. “I have nothing to prove to the world, but I won’t allow anyone who could do something so horrible to have no remorse and paint a picture of something I’m not. I won’t allow the people around him to continue to silence me and continue to lie to protect this person.”

The 24-year-old Bridges is a restricted free agent who was expected to command big money in the free agent market this summer following a breakout season.

The 6-foot-7, 225-pound Bridges was the Hornets’ leading scorer last season, averaging 20.2 points and seven rebounds in his fourth NBA season.

The Hornets have extended Bridges a qualifying offer allowing them a chance to match any offer sheet made by another team. The team had indicated prior to knowledge of Bridges’ arrest that it wanted to re-sign him.