Pacers forward Chris Copeland was stabbed during an argument that broke out at a NYC nightclub early Wednesday morning.
Copeland’s wife Katrine Saltara also was involved in this incident as she was slashed around 4 am at the 1 OAK club that she and Copeland were attending together early this morning according to the New York Daily News.
The incident started when an argument broke out between Copeland and the suspect, 22-year-old Shezoy Bleary inside the nightclub. Sources say that Bleary decided to pull out a knife he had on him and stab Copeland and slash his wife Saltara in the arm and leg. There was a second woman who was accompanying Bleary on that trip to the nightclub, 53-year-old Catherine Comani who was reported to have been slashed in the abdomen as well.
Both Copeland and Saltara were rushed to Bellevue Hospital and were reported to be in stable condition. In addition, Comani was sent to Lenox Hill Hospital and was also reported to be in stable condition. It is a very fortunate that the victims of this ruthless attack did not suffer life-threatening injuries of any kind and look to be able to fully recover and live their normal lives.
Thankfully, Bleary was arrested and now will face a laundry list of charges that will all but cripple the rest of his life in terms of opportunity and ability to live a stable life. It was his choice though and now he must face the consequences of his actions through many years of prison time that await him after this cowardly act of his.
Here is the statement from the Indiana Pacers on this situation:
“We are aware that Chris Copeland was injured early this morning in New York City,” Bird said in a statement on the team’s website. “We are still gathering information and will update when we know more. Our thoughts are with Chris and those injured.”
There is also another layer to this story that doe snot involve any of the four people mentioned in this incident. In a separate situation, two Atlanta Hawks players Thabo Sefolosha, 30, and his teammate Pero Antic, 32, were also there and were booked for refusing to move out of the way of the police officers on site who were trying to set up a crime scene.
Both were charged with obstructing governmental administration. For a simple couple of steps to either direction both could have avoided getting booked and bringing this negative attention on themselves. Yet, they chose not to do so, for whatever silly reason they had.
This also prompted the Atlanta Hawks to also issue a statement on the involvement of their two players at that nightclub:
“We are aware of the situation involving Pero Antic and Thabo Sefolosha this morning,” Hawks spokesperson Garin Narain said to ESPN. “We are in the process of gathering more information and will have further comment at the appropriate time.”
