EX-OSU basketball player turned actor charged with assault in Westerville

A former Ohio State University basketball player who has turned to acting has been charged with misdemeanor assault following an incident in Westerville.

The incident involving Otis Winston, 48, an actor and stuntman, occurred around 9:45 a.m. Tuesday outside the CVS Pharmacy at 145 S. State St., according to a Westerville Police Division report.

The report said video from the pharmacy showed a near collision between a SUV driven by Winston and a car driven by 20-year-old Javon Singleton. Both men live in Westerville, according to the report.

Singleton’s handwritten statement said he waved at the driver of the SUV after getting out of his vehicle. Winston said Singleton made an obscene gesture toward him, which prompted Winston to park and get out of the SUV.

Singleton wrote in his statement to police that Winston asked if Singleton had flipped him off, to which Singleton responded, “What if I did?”

Video from the store shows the two men exchanging words and as Singleton begins to walk up a set of stairs to enter the pharmacy, Winston pushed him up the steps.

According to the police report, Singleton then turned around and the two men exchanged more words.

“Winston then grabs Singleton by the throat, pushes him backwards across the porch in front of the store and throws him into the bushes,” the report said. “Singleton gets out of the bushes and advances towards Winston two or three steps, pulling a knife from his right pocket.”

The report said video showed Winston going back down the stairs and getting into his vehicle while Singleton makes an obscene gesture with both hands in his direction.

Singleton then “backs through the door” into the pharmacy, where an employee called Westerville police.

The report said Winston drove away, but then came back. Winston told police he had come back to apologize. However, Singleton said he believed Winston was coming back to continue the fight, causing Singleton to run out of the pharmacy and down the street.

An off-duty Columbus police officer was driving in the area and stopped Singleton, believing he may have robbed the pharmacy because he was running away as Westerville officers were arriving on the scene, according to a statement from the off-duty officer.

Singleton was briefly detained while officers investigated the situation, but he was not charged.

Winston was not arrested, but was given a citation and summons for misdemeanor assault and ordered to appear in Westerville Mayor’s Court on Jan. 19.

Winston, who stands 6-foot-5, was co-captain of Ohio State’s 1996-97 men’s basketball team. After playing basketball overseas, Winston returned to central Ohio and has had minor acting roles in a dozen movies.

Among them: “Venom,” a 2018 movie in which Winston played a guard; “Games People Play,” 2019, an announcer; Greenland,” 2020, a snow soldier; and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” 2021, a street man.

Winston has also worked in stunts on several movies and TV shows, including “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” “Empire” and “Chicago P.D.”

bbruner@dispatch.com