Son of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar charged with stabbing neighbor

Adam Abdul-Jabbar, the son of famed Lakers star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, faces criminal charges of repeatedly stabbing his neighbor after getting into a heated exchange over taking in trash cans, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Orange County prosecutors said they had charged Abdul-Jabbar, 28, of San Clemente, with three felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one felony count of carrying a dagger and three enhancements of inflicting great bodily injury.

Prosecutors allege that on June 9, a neighbor confronted Abdul-Jabbar and accused him of not bringing in the trash cans for Abdul-Jabbar’s elderly roommate. As the argument escalated, prosecutors said, Abdul-Jabbar stabbed his 60-year-old neighbor multiple times with a large hunting knife, fracturing his skull and causing a brain bleed. The neighbor’s wife drove him to a hospital, where he collapsed.

“A dispute between neighbors should never escalate to violence, much less the ruthless nature of this attack,” Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said in a statement.

Abdul-Jabbar, whose arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 9, faces a maximum sentence of nine years and eight months in prison, prosecutors said. He is free on $25,000 bail.

“It was the complaining witness in this matter who initiated the altercation and it was Mr. Abdul-Jabbar who contacted the police to report it,” said Shawn Holley, Abdul-Jabbar’s attorney, in a statement. “For these reasons and many more, we are disappointed that this case was filed, but stand ready to address the charges in court.”