Attorney for ESPN’s Jay Mariotti says domestic violence allegations are false

Mariotti’s attorney says allegations are false

LOS ANGELES — ESPN personality and AOL sports columnist Jay Mariotti will be charged in an alleged domestic violence incident in Los Angeles, prosecutors said Monday.

Seven misdemeanors are being filed against Mariotti, including domestic violence with injury, false imprisonment and grand theft, city attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan said. Each count carries a maximum of a year in jail.

Mariotti’s attorney, Debra Wong Yang, called the allegations “inaccurate and sensationalized.”

“We are confident that the facts will show the complainant was extremely intoxicated that night and abusive toward Mr. Mariotti,” Yang said.

Mateljan didn’t elaborate on the allegations. But LAPD sources told the Los Angeles Times they involved an incident last month in which Mariotti allegedly grabbed and shoved his live-in girlfriend.

The Times reported on its website Monday that Mariotti got into an argument with his girlfriend at a Santa Monica club after he accused her of flirting with another man. The couple was seen exchanging harsh words before leaving in a car, and the argument continued at their apartment, where Mariotti allegedly pushed and shoved the woman, the newspaper reported.

Mariotti, who lives in Los Angeles, was arrested Aug. 21 on the city’s west side. He is a panelist on the ESPN show “Around the Horn” and writes a regular column for the sports website Fanhouse.com, which is owned by AOL.

He was a longtime columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times.

In an e-mail to The Associated Press, ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said: “We have no plans to use him (Mariotti) at this time.”