Adam Abdul-Jabbar, the son of legendary NBA and Lakers player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was charged with multiple felonies for repeatedly stabbing his neighbor after a dispute over trash cans in San Clemente two months ago, officials said Tuesday.
In connection with the June 9 attack, Abdul-Jabbar, 28, was charged with three felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one felony count of carrying a dirk or dagger, and three enhancements of inflicting great bodily injury, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.
The 60-year-old neighbor suffered a fractured skull and nearly died from blood loss after collapsing outside of the emergency room, according to the DA’s Office.
On June 9, the neighbor who shares a driveway with Abdul-Jabbar confronted him about not taking in the trash cans for his elderly roommate. Ray Winsor, who identified himself as the neighbor stabbed, told KTLA at the time of the incident that Abdul-Jabbar lives with a woman who helped raise him.
The argument escalated and Abdul-Jabbar is accused of stabbing the man multiple times with a large hunting knife, including in the back of the head, causing a fractured skull and a brain bleed, the DA’s Office said.
The man’s wife drove him to the hospital, where he collapsed in front of the emergency room.
Abdul-Jabbar was taken into custody by deputies that night and was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was released that same day after posting bail, officials said.
“I think he’s got some serious problems,” said Winsor, who says he’s known Abdul-Jabbar since he was a child. “I think he tried to kill me. I mean, it could’ve been one inch this way, one inch that way, I could’ve been dead… I want to see him get some help.”
Shawn Holley, Abdul-Jabbar’s attorney, said in a statement that it was “the complaining witness in this matter who initiated the altercation and it was Mr. Abdul-Jabbar who contacted the police to report it.”
“For these reasons and many more, we are disappointed that this case was filed, but stand ready to address the charges in court,” Holley said.
Abdul-Jabbar is scheduled for arraignment on Sept. 9, officials said. He faces a maximum sentence of nine years and eight months in state prison if convicted on all counts.
