Drago pleads not guilty

UCLA basketball player Nikola Dragovic pleads not guilty to assault charge

By WIRE SERVICES
The Los Angeles Independent
Story Published: Dec 21, 2009 at 12:37 PM PST
Story Updated: Dec 21, 2009 at 12:38 PM PST

UCLA basketball player Nikola Dragovic -- who is accused of knocking a man into a glass display case after a concert in Hollywood -- pleaded not guilty Monday to a felony assault charge.

Dragovic, 22, and a 21-year-old friend, Aleksandar Stanisic, were each charged last month with one count of each assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.

Dragovic -- a 6-foot-9-inch forward from Serbia, additionally faces an allegation of personal infliction of great bodily injury.

Stanisic allegedly got into a dispute with another man and his girlfriend during an Oct. 24 concert at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood, and Dragovic is accused of rushing the victim and knocking him into a glass display after the concert.

The glass shattered on the man, lacerating his Achilles tendon, according to the District Attorney's Office, which alleges that Stanisic then began punching the man until security officers and bystanders broke up the fight.

But Dragovic's attorney, Jon Artz, told reporters outside court, "The evidence is mounting in the case that the alleged victim was the aggressor.''

The defense lawyer alleged the man confronted Stanisic and slapped him on the face, and said a witness reported that the alleged victim threatened Dragovic and Stanisic in Serbian before the basketball player and his friend decided to leave.

The final confrontation occurred downstairs after the alleged victim showed up at the front door while Dragovic and his friend were waiting for their car, according to Artz.

"It's clearly a case of self-defense,'' Dragovic's attorney said, maintaining that he is confident that the charges will either be dismissed or that the two will be acquitted if the case goes to trial.

Both men, who are free on bail, are due back at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse on Feb. 1. A date is scheduled to be set then for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require them to stand trial.