Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 9, 1995 TAG: 9505090116
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium
- Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox, who was jailed briefly after his wife called police to their home, appeared with her at a news conference Monday to deny he had assaulted her.
Cox said he planned to continue managing the baseball club. General manager John Schuerholz, who attended the news conference, said he agreed it was not necessary for Cox to take time off.
Pamela Cox sat next to her husband of 18 years at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and supported his account. She said police overreacted to her request that officers break up an argument Sunday night. She said she did not sign an arrest warrant and that her husband was jailed despite her request he be allowed to remain at home.
``There was no hitting of any sort,'' Bobby Cox said.
He said the redness in his wife's face noted in the police report was a result of her crying.
Police in Cobb County, in Atlanta's northwest suburbs, charged Cox with simple battery for allegedly punching his wife and pulling her hair.
Asked at the news conference if she had told officers Cox had hit her, Pamela Cox replied, ``No, no.'' Asked if she knew why it was in the police report, she said, ``I don't know.''
The police report said Bobby Cox was intoxicated, but Pamela Cox on Monday said alcohol was not a factor in the argument.
Bobby Cox, 53, was arrested at about 10:15 p.m. at his home near Atlanta Country Club. He was released on $1,000 bond and faces a hearing May 26, said Lt. Bob Kimbrough of the Cobb sheriff's office.
The police report said Pamela Cox called officers and met them at the door. She told officers her husband and some guests were drinking when Cox spilled a drink on the carpet and she made a comment about it. After the guests left, he hit her in the face with a closed fist and pulled her hair.
``When they left we got into an argument and basically that was it,'' Cox said. ``There was no hitting of any sort. I grabbed her forehead and her hair a little bit just to keep her a distance away from me and we were both going at it pretty good.''
by CNB