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Police have charged a Long Island man with assault as a hate crime and aggravated harassment in connection with an incident involving V. Stiviano, the woman Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was caught on tape talking to when he made racist remarks.

Dominick Diorio, a 40-year-old male from Old Bethpage, has been charged with two counts of assault and two counts of harassment in connection with the incident Sunday night in Manhattan, according to a police spokesman.

The spokesman said Diorio struck Stiviano in the face outside of the Gansevoort Hotel and directed “racial epithets” at her.

Police say Stiviano, who is of black and Mexican decent, spoke to detectives on Monday and told them about the assault, claiming that there was an exchange of words and she was punched in the side of the face.

Mac Nehoray, Stiviano’s attorney, told ESPNNewYork.com that Stiviano was leaving a restaurant by the Gansevoort Hotel when the two men punched her several times on the right side of the face. Her attorneys released a statement saying Stiviano was getting inside a cab when the men assaulted and threatened her.

“On behalf of Ms. Stiviano, we would like to express our gratitude to the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force for acting with utmost courtesy, professionalism and swiftness,” Stiviano’s attorneys said in a statement Tuesday night. “We know that many in the news media have access to and have been able to communicate directly with Ms. Stiviano. We now request that in light of the pending criminal matter and in an effort to not taint the proceedings, that Ms. Stiviano not be contacted directly and that all media requests be forwarded to her attorneys Mr. Mac Nehoray and/or Ms. Alaleh Kamran.”

Stiviano was in New York for an interview with CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” which was canceled.

Stiviano’s audio recording of the Clippers owner led to him being banned from the NBA. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has agreed to buy the Clippers for $2 billion.

 

Source: ESPN

 

 

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