CCSU Basketball Star Suspended After Hitting Girlfriend: Cops

Central Connecticut State University basketball star Kyle Vinales has been suspended indefinitely from the team after he was arrested for allegedly hitting his girlfriend.

A university spokesperson said Vinales, a senior, is "not currently participating in any men's basketball activities" and has been suspended from the team indefinitely.

According to the incident report, Vinales was in the car with his girlfriend on Oct. 23 driving home from dinner at Plan B when an argument turned physical.

His girlfriend, also a CCSU student, told police that Vinales "punched her on the forehead" and "squeezed hard, causing her pain." Police said Vinales admitted to shoving her head against the driver's side window, then getting out on Ella Grasso Boulevard to walk back to campus.

Vinales' girlfriend called police to her apartment on East Street around 11:30 that night. Officers found Vinales walking south on East Street near the intersection of Biltmore Avenue and confronted him about the incident, police said.

He told police his girlfriend was complaining about losing her job, so he asked her, "Why are you blaming everyone else?" Vinales said his girlfriend then snatched his phone because she was annoyed when he started playing music, and that he kept the music on when she gave it back to him, according to the report.

Vinales said his girlfriend then pulled the car over on Ella Grasso Boulevard and hit him in the chest and the left side of his face, telling him, "You are so disrespectful," the incident report says.

Officers, however, said they did not see any marks on Vinales' body, and his girlfriend denied hitting him, according to police. 

Vinales was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and third-degree assault. His girlfriend was not charged.

According to his bio on the CCSU basketball roster, Vinales played at the Phelps School and Farmington Hills High School in Michigan before heading to college.

In the 2012-2013 season, Vinales "became the quickest player in CCSU history to reach 1,000 career points," his bio says. He led the conference in scoring and finished seventh in the country.

Vinales was released on a promise to appear and is due back in court Dec. 5.

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