Ujiri accused of hitting officer

SAN FRANCISCO — A California police agency will pursue a misdemeanor battery charge against Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri after the executive was accused of shoving and hitting a sheriff’s deputy in the face and shouting obscenities as he tried to join his team on the court to celebrate their NBA championship.

After the game Thursday in Oakland against the Golden State Warriors, Ujiri tried to walk past the deputy who was checking court-access credentials, Alameda County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

When the deputy stopped him, Ujiri shoved him back several feet, Kelly said.

“That’s when our deputy goes hands-on and moves Mr. Ujiri back from the court. Mr. Ujiri made a second, more significant shove and during that shove his arm struck our deputy in the side of the head,” Kelly said.

Ujiri also was accused of shouting obscenities at the deputy.

Several bystanders intervened and Ujiri got onto the court without displaying any credentials, Kelly said.

The deputy complained of pain in his jaw and was taken to a hospital for evaluation and later released.

“We had the opportunity to make an arrest and we chose not to,” Kelly said. “We decided it would be in everyone’s best interest to slow things down and do an investigation.”

Kelly said deputies took witness statements and were reviewing footage from body cameras worn by the deputy along with footage from the arena surveillance system and cellphones.