ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – New online records show UNM Basketball player, JJ Caldwell, had officially been charged with battery, stemming from an incident in December.
The new year is kicking off with a rocky start for the Lobos Basketball player. The Junior Guard has been suspended from the team indefinitely since December.
Online records show Caldwell was charged with misdemeanor battery in December, but the case was just filed in Metro Court last week. According to the original police report, his ex-girlfriend ran into him at a club in Downtown Albuquerque back in December.
They got into an argument and that’s when she told police he pushed her up against a vehicle. Things got even more violent when the pair made it back to his apartment. The report says Caldwell held her up against the wall, then slapped and choked her.
Tonight, Coach Paul Weir addressed Caldwell’s charge.
“I just found out about it now. It was not anything I was aware of until pretty much game time. I’ll take some time here and kind of process what that means and what that’s all about,” he says.
While Caldwell hasn’t made any public comment, he did tweet yesterday morning, saying the last four years have been awful and he just wants his life back.
In the past month, three of Weir’s players have been suspended, and one of them was even kicked off the team. Earlier this week, Coach Weir said the Lobos didn’t handle winning well.
“I regret that I did not take a more active approach to understand that and know that and reel that in,” he said.
Coach Weir says Caldwell hasn’t been removed from the team.
Meanwhile, APD says the victim also reported a separate domestic violence incident three months earlier. They’re meeting with the District Attorney’s Office next week to determine if felony domestic violence charges will be filed in that case.
Alamogordo District Attorney, John Suggs, who is currently handling the December case, says his office is still investigating.