New York Knicks legendary big man Charles Oakley was forcibly removed from Madison Square Garden earlier this year after he attended a game and reportedly began to heckle team owner James Dolan. Oakley got into a small altercation with MSG security and was arrested after the incident.
Oakley has been involved in a war of words against James Dolan and publicly has been opposed to how the whole situation at MSG was handled. The two sides couldn’t come to an amicable agreement so the case went to court. After nearly six months of arguments, statements, bold claims and court dates, a plea deal has been reached. Oakley will see his charges get dropped and he’ll also be banned from MSG for a year. There still is a chance Oakley could pursue a civil case against James Dolan.
Following comes from Ian Begley of ESPN.
Former New York Knicks great Charles Oakley on Friday accepted a deal to have charges stemming from a February incident at Madison Square Garden dismissed, but he left open the possibility of pursuing civil action against team owner James Dolan.
Oakley was arrested after a run-in with MSG security on Feb. 8 and charged with two misdemeanor counts of assault, one misdemeanor count of aggravated harassment and one misdemeanor count of trespassing. He was also cited for two additional counts of harassment that are considered noncriminal violations.
On Friday, Oakley was offered a deal — an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal — that will lead to the charges being dropped if he stays out of trouble for six months and complies with a condition that prohibits Oakley from trespassing at Madison Square Garden for one year.
Oakley declined comment when asked about the trespassing condition, but he said in court that he had “no plans to go” to Madison Square Garden when the condition was announced by the judge.
Oakley’s attorney, Alex Spiro, said his client “will be pursuing all civil remedies against Mr. Dolan based on this incident.”
Madison Square Garden declined comment on the agreement.
