Security team tackles spectator at WNBA game
Los Angeles CA Sept 18 2019 A fan was subdued by security after he rushed toward Los Angeles Sparks players Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike while the former was doing an on-court television interview following the Sparks’ WNBA playoff win over the Seattle Storm on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Scary moment at the end of the Sparks game as a fan ran onto the court towards Chiney & Nneka Ogwumike with something in his hand. #WNBA
Security officials tackled the court invader, a man identified by a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman as Jeffrey Umoye, 28, of the Los Angeles area.
Umoye, who was wearing a Houston Rockets jersey, had been spotted doing pushups in front of his courtside seat while the game was being played, and reportedly was told to stop by security:
“Nneka was doing her interview and I always like to stay with her, we walk off the court together,” Chiney Ogwumike said after the game, per the Press-Enterprise. “And out of the corner of my eye I saw, ‘Oh, shoot, like what’s going on here?’ And some dude was coming at us. And so I just jumped in, because I’m expendable — she is not! We need her. Middle sister gotta always take one for the team.
“So yeah, I think it was a fan who wanted to get to us. We’re fine.”
Said Nneka Ogwumike: “I don’t know who that was, I have no idea who that was. I think it was just a very enthusiastic fan that maybe got caught up in the moment, but we have the security in place to manage those situations.”
The LAPD spokeswoman told The Post that Umoye was arrested and charged with misdemeanor trespassing over the incident. Los Angeles County jail records indicate that a man with Umoye’s name and date of birth was being held on $1,000 bail after his arrest on Sunday.
