The wife and daughter of former mob boss John Gotti Jr. were charged with assault after throwing fists and ripping the wig off a woman during a brawl at a Long Island high school basketball game, according to police documents.
The mid-game melee broke out around 8:15 p.m. at Locust Valley High School, which was hosting Oyster Bay High School for a matchup between the boys’ basketball teams. Fans on both sides started exchanging barbs, and police documents stated that a man and a woman were cursing at students in the bleachers, using misogynistic and anti-gay slurs at one point.
A woman in the bleachers asked them to stop. Soon after, a woman in gray jacket — identified by police as 55-year-old Kimberly Gotti — ran at the other woman, punched her and grabbed her hat, the police report states.
A younger woman, who police said was Gotti’s 23-year-old daughter Gianna, joined in on the fracas, allegedly punching the victim. As the brawl continued, the victim recalled having her hair pulled to the point where it “felt like my scalp was going to ripped off.” The younger Gotti tore off the wig the 47-year-old was wearing, the victim said, and bragged about it later.
The three women continued to punch the victim, but she was able to get us and the group started to separate, even as shouting continued. Police arrived soon after, but the victim said the two Gotti women kept instigating to fight.
The victim was left with scratches to both sides of her face, pain on her scalp and a severe headache afterward, she told police.
Kimberly and Gianni Gotti were both charged with third-degree assault as a result of the mayhem. They spent Thursday night in jail and were seen leaving court on Friday along with Gotti Jr., the former boss of the Gambino crime family.
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“She pressed charges against my wife and my daughter. My wife and my daughter will not press charges against anybody else,” said Gotti Jr., whose son plays for the Oyster Bay team.
Both pleaded not guilty. According to the lawyer for the Gotti’s lawyer, the alleged victim was the one who threw the first punch, striking Kimberly Gotti in the face.
“The victim in this case actually got very, very angry, very belligerent. She went from zero to 100 and started arguing aggressively with Mrs. Gotti,” said attorney Gerard Marrone. “In fact, the victim in this case punched Mrs. Gotti in the face first — Mrs. Gotti did nothing. Her daughter, Gianna, came to her aid.”
No one answered the door at the victim’s Upper Brookville home Friday afternoon.
