Hornets reserve charged with assault

Friday, February 18th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Charlotte Hornets reserve guard Eldridge Recasner faces a March court date after police said he lost his temper with a clerk at a Seattle airport. Recasner, who was seriously injured in an October accident while riding in a car driven by teammate Derrick Coleman, was charged with fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor, in the Dec. 24 case, police said.

Bob Parker, a spokesman for the Port of Seattle Police Department, said Recasner became agitated while trying to book a flight to visit his sister in Texas, who recently had been involved in a serious car accident. Recasner grabbed the tie of a clerk at the Continental Airlines counter and dragged him across the table, Parker said. "This was a guy having a bad day," said Parker, whose agency polices the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. "That doesn't give him the right to threaten an the employee. But this isn't someone we're interested in making a poster child for spoiled athletes."

After the Hornets game Wednesday, Recasner said his attorney has advised him not to speak about the case. "Something did happen," Recasner said, "but it's nothing I can talk about right now." He is scheduled to appear in court March 6.

Recasner hasn't played for the Hornets since the accident with Coleman. He sustained a fractured right shoulder, a collapsed lung and several other injuries in his chest, requiring extensive rehabilitation. He has begun practicing again on a limited basis, and the club is hopeful he will resume playing soon.