Rod Strickland Pleads Guilty To Assaulting His Girlfriend

Rod Strickland, star guard for the Portland Trail Blazers, pleaded guilty Monday to assaulting his girlfriend.

Criminal Court Judge Lettiteia Martin ordered him to attend a therapy program for batterers. He faces up to a year in jail if he fails to attend.

His lawyer, Ira London, refused to comment on the case.

Strickland was arrested in November on charges of assault, menacing and harassment for allegedly hitting the mother of his 5-year-old son.

Judith Cruz, 31, of New York, said in court papers that Strickland had “punched her in the eye two or three times, pushing her into a wall, where she struck her head, then knocked her to the ground - causing serious physical injury.”

Prosecutors said the dispute began in a Manhattan nightclub and ended in the first-floor hallway outside Cruz’s apartment. The two were arguing about their son, Brandon. Cruz said Strickland doesn’t spend enough time with the boy.