Rodman arrested after attack

Deepa Bharath

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman was arrested at his Seashore Drive

home early Friday morning on suspicion of assaulting a woman he was

reportedly dating, police said.

Police officers responded to a 911 call from the woman at about 2

a.m. The call initially went out to the California Highway Patrol and

was diverted to Newport Beach Police, Sgt. Steve Shulman said.

The woman, who was standing in a parking lot at the corner of

Coast Highway and West Balboa Boulevard when police found her,

claimed Rodman assaulted her, he said.

Officers then went to Rodman’s home and questioned him, as well as

others who were with him, Shulman said.

“They determined that he was the one who had given the woman a cut

upper lip,” he said.

Rodman could not be reached for comment.

The woman, whose name is not being revealed because she is

allegedly a victim of domestic violence, also claimed Rodman had

given her a bump on the head, Shulman said.

“We don’t know if the woman was living with [Rodman],” he said.

“But clearly they were in some kind of dating relationship.”

Rodman also “had alcohol on his breath” when he was arrested,

Shulman said. He was booked at Newport Beach city jail at about 2:30

a.m. and then taken to Orange County jail. He posted a $25,000 bail

and got out at about 10:30 a.m.

Police are still investigating the incident and will file a report

with the Orange County district attorney, who will then determine

whether to file charges, he said.

This incident comes just weeks before the hearing of a civil

lawsuit accusing Rodman of raping former actress Tina New at his West

Newport home. That case is scheduled to be heard at the Orange County

Superior Court in Santa Ana on Jan. 27.

New, a star witness in the trial of Eric Bechler, the 34-year-old

Newport Heights resident now in prison for murdering wife Pegye

during a boating trip off the Newport Beach coast, filed the lawsuit

against Rodman in August 2000, accusing him of drugging and raping

her.

She said in the lawsuit that she was taken against her will to

Rodman’s Seashore Drive home, that Rodman grabbed her “by her hips

and legs, ripped [her] clothing off and began physically throwing her

around.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.