MIAMI (WSVN) - Police body camera video and crime scene pictures captured the arrest of former NBA star Amar’e Stoudemire after he allegedly punched his teenage daughter, leading to a battery charge that has since been dropped.
The bodycam footage shows the 6-foot-10 former player as he was walked through the lobby of an upscale Brickell Key condominium in handcuffs, Dec. 17.
Moments later, he is seen getting into a City of Miami Police SUV.
Stoudemire, 40, had called police after what was first described as a custody dispute. After officers responded, they learned about the daughter’s injuries.
“She has swelling in the back of the head,” a first responder said in radio transmissions.
The bodycam shows the victim as she gave officers her account of the incident near the lobby entrance.
“He just hit me in my mouth and started slapping me and stuff,” she said.
“How many times did he hit you?” an officer asked Stoudemire’s daughter.
“I don’t know. A lot,” she said.
“Fist or open hand?” the officer asked.
“Fist,” the teen replied.
Crime scene pictures captured the teen’s injuries and bloodied clothes.
Stoudemire was a six-time NBA All-Star. During a playoff game against the Miami Heat, he made news when he smashed a fire extinguisher case.
Stoudemire went on to play for the Heat, where he finished out his career, and recently graduated from the University of Miami with a master’s degree.
Following his arrest, a Miami Police officer told Stoudemire that because of his celebrity status, he will be taken into a different section of the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center than other inmates.
“Because you’re a little bit of a big deal, you’re gonna go in through the Sally port, not the regular entrance,” the officer is heard saying to Stoudemire in the bodycam footage.
After he bonded out of jail, Stoudemire denied the accusations. In a statement, he wrote, “I could never see myself assaulting any person, especially my children.”
His arrest form states in part, “Defendant stated victim was sad because she received a whooping from him for being disrespectful and a liar.”
On Tuesday, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office dropped the misdemeanor battery charge, saying that although they have pictures showing the victim’s injuries, “without the victim’s sworn testimony, the state does not have a good faith basis to file charges against the defendant.”
In the days following Stoudemire’s arrest, the state attorney’s office also said they couldn’t reach their victim, who is a minor.
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