Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale was arrested in Miami in the early hours of Thursday morning, just hours after helping lead her team to the Unrivaled championship title. The four-time WNBA All-Star was charged with first-degree misdemeanor battery following an alleged altercation at a Miami nightclub and was released on a $1,000 bond.
The arrest took place at approximately 4:20 a.m. outside the E11EVEN nightclub in Miami, where Ogunbowale had been celebrating the Mist’s championship victory. According to police records from Miami-Dade County, Ogunbowale allegedly punched a man with a closed fist, causing him to fall to the ground. Footage from the nightclub captured the incident, the police report stated, and confirmed the account provided by the man involved.
What the police report says happened
According to police reports obtained by the New York Post, Ogunbowale was in the process of being escorted out of the club by a security staffer due to a separate, unrelated altercation when the incident occurred. During that escort, she allegedly struck the staffer in the face with a closed fist. The nightclub surveillance footage reviewed by officers supported that account.
Ogunbowale was taken into custody, booked on the misdemeanor battery charge and released on a $1,000 bond.
A championship night that took a difficult turn
The arrest came just hours after one of the high points of Ogunbowale’s professional career. The 29-year-old scored 19 points in the Mist’s 80-74 victory over the Phantom in the Unrivaled title game on Wednesday night, contributing to the league’s second season championship. Breakout star Breanna Stewart led the winning effort with 32 points in the final.
Ogunbowale is a two-time WNBA All Star Game MVP and won the WNBA scoring title in 2020. She is currently entering her eighth professional season and is an unrestricted free agent as collective bargaining negotiations between the WNBA players union and the league continue into the spring.
League and team respond
Both Unrivaled and the Dallas Wings issued statements in response to the arrest. Unrivaled confirmed awareness of the incident and said it was in the process of gathering additional information while remaining in contact with Ogunbowale and her representatives. The Wings similarly acknowledged the situation and said further comment would follow once more details were available.
Neither organization indicated what next steps, if any, might follow from a disciplinary standpoint as the situation continues to develop.
