22-year-old Los Angeles Kings goaltending prospect Patrik Bartosak is facing 12 “domestic-related charges,” according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
He faces a felony charge of second-degree assault alleging that he tried to strangle his girlfriend. There are also seven “domestic simple assault charges” and three “criminal threatening charges” that allege he threatened to kill her. All of these allegations are outlined in sobering detail at the Union Leader.
Bartosak was released on $10,000 bail.
The Union Leader has the details on his hearing and trial:
Because no plea can be entered to a felony charge in circuit court, a hearing was set for Dec. 16, when a judge will hear evidence and decide if there is probable cause to bind Bartosak over to the Hillsborough County Superior Court North for possible indictment.
Trial on the assault, threatening and stalking misdemeanors was set for Jan. 28, 2016.
The Kings have released a statement on the matter:
This is a very serious matter and these allegations represent a type of behavior we do not stand for. We will continue to gather information and comment further when appropriate.
Bartosak was a 5th round pick in the 2013 draft by the Kings and has played the last two seasons with the team’s former AHL affiliate the Manchester Monarchs (who are now the team’s ECHL affiliate). He was with ECHL Manchester on a conditioning stint when the alleged incident occurred.
This will be another blemish for the organization who took the laudable step of having players go through a domestic violence and illegal drug education program after a parade of legal difficulties last season. Players from AHL Ontario, where Bartosak was set to play, reportedly were included in the education program.
The club had Slava Voynov charged with “corporal injury to spouse with a great bodily injury,” to which he pled no contest. He served jail time and then self-deported back to Russia while facing a potential forced deportation.
The team also found themselves in headlines for reasons they didn’t want to be there when Jarret Stoll was arrested for possession of cocaine. He eventually plead guilty to two reduced misdemeanor charges. In June, Mike Richards was arrested and charged at the Canadian border for possession of a controlled substance that turned out to be oxycodone. That led the team to terminate his contract for “a material breach of the requirements” of that contract.