By Kevin Dotson, CNN
(CNN) — North Carolina prosecutors have dropped three charges against Charlotte Hornets player Miles Bridges, according to documents filed in Mecklenburg County Superior Court on Tuesday.
Bridges, 25, was charged in 2023 with violating a protection order, misdemeanor child abuse and injury to personal property, according to the Lincoln County, North Carolina, sheriff’s office. Bridges surrendered to authorities in October after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
In Tuesday’s filing, the state said it determined there was “insufficient evidence” to get a conviction at trial due to inconsistent statements made by the alleged victim.
“Victim initially gives statement to officers that female at the house caused the damages. Few days later, she gives second statement to law enforcement that the defendant caused the damages,” the filing read. “In preparation for the upcoming scheduled trial, the victim gave recent statement to prosecutors in which she said she is unsure how the damages were caused.
“Given the lack of sufficient evidence necessary to overcome the inconsistency of these accounts, the state would not be successful at trial.”
Bridges’ attorney, Allen C. Brotherton, welcomed the state’s decision.
“The evidence was going to show Miles was innocent and we were going to win a trial,” Brotherton told CNN. “Our local prosecutor has great integrity, and people should appreciate the courage to do the right thing.”
Before his 2023 arrest, Bridges pleaded no contest to a felony domestic violence charge in California in November 2022. Bridges was sentenced to three years of formal probation, one year of domestic violence counseling, one year of parenting classes and 100 hours of community service, a statement from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said at the time.
Bridges signed a one-year deal with the Hornets before the 2023-2024 NBA season and sat out the first 10 games of this season.
He only had to serve 10 games of the 30-game suspension handed down by the NBA in April 2023 because the NBA gave him credit for 20 games since he missed 82 games in the 2022-2023 season.
Bridges was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft out of Michigan State University and was traded to Charlotte, where he played four seasons. He was coming off his best year professionally in 2021-2022, averaging 20.2 points and 7.0 rebounds before the incident. This year, he is averaging 21.6 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game.
CNN’s Jamiel Lynch and Jacob Lev contributed to this report.
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