A little over a year ago, Atlanta Hawks forward Thabo Sefolosha was charged with resisting arrest by NYPD officers during an incident outside of a nightclub. Officers claimed that Sefolosha charged at them, which required them to arrest him, breaking his ankle and forcing him to miss the NBA playoffs after his right fibula was broken and ankle ligaments were torn, according to the New York Times.

After denying a plea deal, Sefolosha went to trial and was acquitted by a jury of all charges after just 45 minutes of deliberating. Now, the NBA player is filing a $50 million civil suit against the five NYPD officers who arrested him last April. 

Sefolosha’s civil suit reportedly argues that the arrest put his basketball career in jeopardy and resulted in a loss of endorsements and his value as a player. It also accuses the officers of falsifying reports to support their actions during the arrest.

While officers claim Sefolosha charged at them, he attests that he was simply another bystander that watched on as they cleared the area after an unrelated incident where another NBA player was stabbed outside of the nightclub. He actually claims that he was on his way to a car, but stopped to give $20 to a panhandler before the police knocked him to the ground.

Pero Antic, a former teammate of Sefolosha who was also arrested during the incident, filed a lawsuit of his own against officers for resisting arrest charges that were brought against him and later dropped. His suit is currently for $25 million.

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