Hornets forward Miles Bridges had three criminal counts against him dismissed by the Mecklenburg County (N.C.) Superior Court on Tuesday due to “insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim Bontemps report.
The court filing revealed that prosecutors believed “the state would not be successful at trial” due to conflicting statements made by Bridges’ former girlfriend.
The incident occurred in October. Summons were issued against Bridges for violating a domestic violence protective order, misdemeanor child abuse and injury to personal property.
During a custody exchange at Bridges’ residence in Charlotte, the 25-year-old threw billiard balls at his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle while their two children were inside it, which smashed the windshield and dented her car.
The summons also stated that Bridges threatened his former girlfriend, saying that if she called the police “he would take everything from her and withhold child support.”
Subsequently, the woman gave conflicting statements to police and later said she was unsure how the damages were caused.
“The evidence was going to show Miles was innocent and we were going to win a trial,” Bridges’ attorney, Allen Brotherton, said in a statement. “Our local prosecutor has great integrity and people should appreciate the courage to do the right thing.”
In Bridges’ previous domestic violence case, he originally facing three felony charges after being accused of assaulting his then-girlfriend in front of their two children. He entered a plea of no contest — accepting punishment without formally admitting guilt — to one felony count of injuring a child’s parent in November 2022. He received three years probation and no jail time as part of the plea deal.
Bridges didn’t play last season and served a 10-game league suspension prior to this season. He signed a $7,921,300 qualifying offer during the offseason and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. The Hornets retained him through the trade deadline and have indicated they hope to re-sign him in the offseason.
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