Charles Oakley accepts plea deal in Madison Square Garden incident
Killer 3's Coach Charles Oakley at The BIG3 professional 3-on-3 basketball league at Barclays Center on June 25, 2017. Credit: Corey Sipkin
Charles Oakley accepted a deal in court on Friday that could result in the dismissal of five misdemeanor charges that stemmed from the Feb. 8 fracas between the former Knicks star and security personnel at Madison Square Garden.
If the 54-year-old doesn’t get re-arrested for six months and stays away from the Garden for a year, charges of assault, harassment and trespassing will be dismissed.
However, the plea deal does not bring an end to the feud between Oakley and Garden chairman James Dolan. Oakley attorney Alex Spiro said his client will be pursuing civil remedies against Dolan.
Spiro called the entire imbroglio a “personal issue” between Oakley and Dolan and added, “Mr. Oakley can address these things in a civil form. He will be pursuing all civil remedies against Mr. Dolan based on this instance.”
Oakley was arrested at the Garden after scuffling with security guards who were trying to remove him. He was charged with two counts each of misdemeanor assault and misdemeanor harassment and one of misdemeanor trespassing. He bought his ticket to the game that night.
On Friday Oakley agreed to an ACD — adjournment in contemplation of dismissal. If he has no run-ins with the law during the next six months, the charges will be dropped.
The judge also ordered Oakley not to go to the Garden for one year.
“Like I said from Day One: I wasn’t wrong,” Oakley said.
“Everyone who seen it, they know what happened,” he added later. “It’s just wrong. In society, everyone talks about things getting better in life. Life is in reverse, not drive.”
This is the same plea deal that Oakley was offered and turned down at a June court appearance. Then, Oakley seemed determined to go to a trial. Before agreeing to the ACD, Oakley asked if it established him as “Not Guilty” and he was told it would not, but also that there would be no charges at the end.
“The dismissal vindicates him,” Spiro said. “It shows nobody thought he did anything wrong . . . and it reaffirms what everybody has always thought: The Garden was wrong in the way they treated him. He doesn’t need a trial to prove it because the judge just ordered it.”
Asked if the resolution of the criminal charges satisfied him, Oakley replied, “You’ve got to live with it.”
A spokesman for Madison Square Garden declined to comment.
