Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Andre Rison was arrested Thursday on charges he beat his girlfriend and fired a gun after two men tried to stop him.
Police said he assaulted Lisa Lopes, a singer with the rap group TLC, after the two left an Atlanta nightclub.Rison, freed on $16,500 bond, and Lopes, who was charged with obstruction for allegedly attacking a police officer, faced a hearing in Municipal Court today. Lopes was freed on $1,200 bond.
"All I was doing was defending myself," Rison said. "It was a matter of a situation where I thought I might be hindered or harmed, and I protected myself."
Police said Lopes went inside a Kroger grocery store when Rison began striking her with his fist.
Police say Lopes then ran outside while Rison went to his car and got a gun. Rison threatened a woman who offered a ride to Lopes and fired a shot at a wall outside the store, Dukes said.
Rison said he was carrying a gun for protection. "A man of my stature and the stature of the woman I date - we're both stars," he said.
Lopes's group, TLC, is a female rap trio whose debut album, "Ooooooo . . . On the TLC Tip," has sold nearly 2.8 million copies.