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After being dusted off by the Miami Heat last season, former number one draft pick Greg Oden has found himself in some off-the-court trouble. The oft-injured center was arrested in Lawrence, Indiana, early this morning after allegedly brutally punching his ex-girlfriend.
Police arrived at a home owned by Oden’s mother and found a woman inside crying and bleeding from her face. According to Fox 59, police say the woman’s face had “blood, swelling to the nose, [and] lacerations to the forehead and nose area.”
At first the woman told police she had fallen and was uncooperative with the investigation.
Eventually, however, a friend of the woman on the scene told the victim: “There isn’t that much love in the world. You need to tell that he punched you in the face.”
A relative of Oden’s at the scene told police that the former couple argues often and that this argument had woken up the relative. Witnesses say the family member and the victim’s friend tried to hold Oden back, but when he broke free, he accidentally hit the woman in the face.
Oden admitted what he had done and was apologetic.
“I was wrong, and I know what has to happen,” Oden said, according to the police report.
He said he and the victim had dated for two years but had broken up about two months ago.
Oden was arrested on two charges of misdemeanor battery.
Oden played for the Miami Heat last year but was not re-signed. He most recently worked out for the L.A. Clippers.
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