NMSU basketball player Tyrone Watson arrested on physical assault charge

Las Cruces Police have arrested a man suspected of physically assaulting a fellow partygoer during a January gathering.

New Mexico State University basketball player Tyrone P. Watson, 22, of the 800 block of east University Avenue , has been charged with one third-degree felony count of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.

According to Las Cruces Police, detectives learned that Watson and several others were at a party on the 1000 block of Maple Street in Las Cruces during the early-morning of Jan. 26, 2013. At some point during the party Watson apparently became upset when he saw his girlfriend dancing with a 19-year-old man.

Watson allegedly grabbed the 19-year-old’s neck and forced him toward an outside doorway where he punched the man at least once, according to police. The victim fell to the ground and witnesses told detectives that other partygoers then pulled Watson off the man.

The victim was transported by private vehicle to Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces where it was determined that he had several broken bones to the right side of his face. The man’s injuries were not life-threatening.

Watson left the party and later that morning telephoned a Las Cruces Police sergeant whom he had met in 2012. Watson told the sergeant that he became upset when he saw his girlfriend and the 19-year-old man dancing in what he believed to be an inappropriate manner.

Watson was arrested on the afternoon of Wednesday, Feb. 6, and booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center with bond set at $5,000.

Watson was suspended from the NMSU basketball team last month.