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Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Houston Rockets guard Keven Porter Jr. has been arrested in New York City and charged with assault and strangulation, authorities said Monday. An NYPD spokesman was quoted by media outlets as saying Porter, 23, was placed into custody early Monday after police responded to a 911 call from a hotel in the city and determined that a 26-year-old woman had sustained an injury to her face and neck.
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"A preliminary investigation on scene determined that a known individual struck her multiple times upon her body and placed his hands around the neck," the spokesman said, adding the woman was taken to a hospital for evaluation.
ABC News reported the complainant is Porter's girlfriend, former WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick. The couple were in New York for Fashion Week, where they had been photographed together attending an event, the broadcaster said.
A Rockets team spokesman said the club was aware of the incident but had no further comment.
Monday's incident is not Porter's first scrape with the law.
As a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, he was arrested in November 2020 and faced charges of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, failure to control the vehicle and misdemeanor possession of marijuana, before those charges were dismissed.
The Cavaliers traded the former first-round draft pick the next year after he was involved in an outburst with team officials after becoming angry when his old locker was given to teammate Taurean Prince.
Despite the incidents, Porter's scoring prowess and on-court versatility led the Rockets to sign him to a four-year, $82.5 million extension last year, putting him under contract through the 2026-27 season.
The NBA's domestic violence policy, agreed to by the players' union in the collective bargaining agreement that took effect in July, states that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has the authority to void such contracts and disqualify a player from the league based on the outcome of investigations, ESPN reported.
