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ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE- This March 1, 2012 file photo shows former NBA player Scottie Pippen during an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore. Authorities are investigating a fight involving the former Chicago Bulls star and a man outside a popular Malibu sushi restaurant Sunday, June 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
MALIBU, Calif. >> Former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen was questioned today about a fight that occurred over the weekend between him and an autograph seeker outside a Malibu restaurant, authorities said.
Pippen came in voluntarily to a substation after he was named as a suspect in an investigation of an assault with intent to commit great bodily injury, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said. He was there for about an hour and was released pending further investigation.
“He’s being cooperative,” sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said.
The victim was taking pictures inside Nobu restaurant late Sunday while Pippen, 47, dined with his family, said sheriff’s Capt. Patrick Davoren.
When Pippen went outside to the parking lot, the man continued to take pictures and sought the Hall-of-Famer’s autograph, Davoren said.
An argument ensued that led to the altercation, investigators said.
The man was taken to a hospital with a head injury and was treated and released.
Investigators were interviewing several witnesses who apparently saw what transpired.
“Right now it’s under investigation,” Whitmore said. “We have to interview everybody to find out what happened.”
Nobu has been a Malibu mainstay for nearly 15 years and is frequented by celebrities. The restaurant recently moved to a beachfront location that offers views of the Pacific Ocean from nearly every seat.
Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, Pippen won six NBA titles with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and was on a list of the league’s 50 greatest players announced in 1996.
He is a special adviser to the team’s president and chief operating officer. The Bulls declined to comment Monday.
