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LOS ANGELES – Former ESPN commentator Jay Anthony Mariotti pleaded not guilty today to charges that he stalked and assaulted his former girlfriend, the same woman he was convicted of assaulting last year, the District Attorney’s office announced. Deputy District Attorney Simone Shay said Mariotti pleaded not guilty to one felony count each of stalking, corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, and two misdemeanor counts of disobeying a domestic court order.Around midnight on April 15, the 51-year-old Santa Monica resident allegedly grabbed his former girlfriend outside of a Venice restaurant. He allegedly pulled a chunk of her hair out and grabbed her cell phone away from her while shouting at her. Mariotti also allegedly confronted his former girlfriend at a restaurant on Sept. 30, the same day he pleaded to a misdemeanor domestic battery charge involving the victim.
Judge Keith Schwartz set bail at $250,000. He returns to court on June 1 for a preliminary hearing in Department 142 at the Airport Court. If convicted, he faces up to five years in state prison.
