NEW YORK — An Ohio man has been arrested for throwing a sex toy at a WNBA game in New York, police said Thursday.
It’s the latest development in a string of disturbances in which similar toys were tossed at WNBA games across the country, resulting in at least three arrests.
Charles Burgess, 32, from Dayton, Ohio, was arrested Wednesday for allegedly throwing an object at the Dallas Wings vs. New York Liberty game on Aug. 5, New York police told The Associated Press. The object hit a 12-year-old girl, and Burgess was charged with two counts of assault.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Burgess had an attorney.
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Similar disturbances happened during games in Atlanta on July 29 and Aug. 1, Los Angeles and Phoenix on Aug. 5, and Chicago on Aug. 1 and Aug. 7.
Some of the sex toys reached the court and caused game delays, while others landed in the crowds, such as in Phoenix where an 18-year-old was arrested.
The man in that case told police it was a prank that had been trending on social media, and he bought the toy a day earlier to take to the game. He was tackled at the arena by a volunteer who had allegedly witnessed him throwing it and began following him as he tried to leave the arena.
Police have said that man was arrested on suspicion of assault, disorderly conduct and publicly displaying explicit sexual material.
A man was also arrested in Georgia for the two toy-throwings at Atlanta Dream games, according to a police report.
He is charged with disorderly conduct, criminal trespassing, public indecency and indecent exposure. All four charges are misdemeanors in the state of Georgia, meaning that if he is convicted, the punishment for each can be a fine of up to $1,000 or jail time of up to 12 months. A misdemeanor for public indecency and indecent exposure might also require registration on the state’s sex offender list.
The report said the Georgia man told police, “this was supposed to be a joke and the joke [was] supposed to go viral.”
The sex toy that landed on the court in Los Angeles nearly hit Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham.
League officials have said any person throwing objects onto the court will be ejected from the arena and face a minimum one-year ban from attending games.
Media reports on the disturbances have tied the toy-throwings to a group involved in a related Cryptocurrency meme coin.