Pistorius Gets in Nightclub Fight

Athlete, clubgoer have very different versions of the story
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 15, 2014 6:42 AM CDT
Pistorius Gets in Nightclub Fight
Oscar Pistorius sits in court in Pretoria, Tuesday, July 8, 2014, at his murder trial for the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.   (AP Photo/Siphiwe Sibeko, Pool)

Getting into a drunken fight at a nightclub is probably pretty high on the list of Things Not to Do During Your Murder Trial, yet that's what Oscar Pistorius did on Saturday night. Pistorius' rep confirms there was an altercation, but says Pistorius was minding his own business in the VIP section of the Johannesburg club when he was approached by a man who "aggressively engaged" him about the Reeva Steenkamp case, the Telegraph reports. Pistorius' rep also says the athlete "regrets the decision to go into a public place and thereby inviting unwelcome attention."

The man in question, Jared Mortimer, tells South African gossip website The Juice that a mutual friend introduced the two men, and that conversation was at first cordial, until Pistorius started "talking s---" about one of Mortimer's friends. When an angry Mortimer got up to leave, he claims Pistorius started poking him in the chest and then "pulled my neck to talk in my ear—but very aggressively. He said 'I would never get the better of him.'" Mortimer says he pushed a "wasted" and "aggressive" Pistorius, and the athlete fell into a chair; then bouncers intervened. Pistorius was asked to leave after getting in a second confrontation with another man, Mortimer tells the Star. Hours later, Pistorius tweeted for the first time in five months, quoting, among other things, a Holocaust survivor. (More Reeva Steenkamp stories.)

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