Pelicans’ Jaxson Hayes sentenced for scuffle with LA police

LOS ANGELES (AP) — New Orleans Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes was sentenced Tuesday to three years of probation, 450 hours of community service and a year of weekly domestic violence classes for a scuffle with officers responding to a domestic violence call last summer in Los Angeles.

The sentencing comes after Hayes — the eighth overall pick out of Texas in the 2019 NBA draft — pleaded no contest on Feb. 24 to misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment and resisting an officer.

Hayes, 22, also will be ordered to pay yet-to-be-determined restitution, said Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office spokesman Rob Wilcox.

Hayes was arrested on July 28, 2021, when police responded to a 3 a.m. domestic disturbance call.

Police body camera video showed Hayes scuffling with officers and being hit twice with an electronic stun gun after they ordered him out of the home while they sought to question a woman inside.

Hayes told officers the woman was his girlfriend and that she had been “throwing some stuff” at him while they argued.

Hayes was treated at a hospital after the altercation. An officer thrown against a wall by Hayes was treated for an elbow injury.

Hayes played in 70 games for the Pelicans last season, starting 28. He averaged 9.3 points and 4.5 rebounds.

Details on the timeline for Hayes to complete his community service requirement were not immediately available, but he may perform it where he lives instead of in Los Angeles, Wilcox said. The 52-week domestic violence classes can be taken online and Hayes has elected to do that, Wilcox said.