© 2024 KRWG
News that Matters.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Suspended NMSU Basketball Player Arrested

 Las Cruces Police have arrested the suspended New Mexico State University basketball player  suspected of physically assaulting a fellow partygoer during a January gathering.  Tyrone P. Watson, 22, of the 800 block of east University Avenue, is charged with one third-degree felony count of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.

Detectives learned that Watson and several others were at a party on the 1000 block of Maple Street in Las Cruces during the early-morning of Jan. 26, 2013. At some point during the party Watson apparently became upset when he saw his girlfriend dancing with a 19-year-old man.

Detectives learned that Watson grabbed the 19-year-old’s neck and forced him toward an outside doorway where he punched the man at least once. The victim fell to the ground and witnesses told detectives that other partygoers then pulled Watson off the man.

The victim was transported by private vehicle to Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces where it was determined that he had several broken bones to the right side of his face. The man’s injuries were not life-threatening.

Watson left the party and later that morning telephoned a Las Cruces Police sergeant whom he had met in 2012. Watson told the sergeant that he became upset when he saw his girlfriend and the 19-year-old man dancing in what he believed to be an inappropriate manner.

Watson was arrested on the afternoon of Wednesday, Feb. 6, and booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center with bond set at $5,000.