TMZ recently released brief security cam footage of former NHL star Dustin Penner tussling with a man in a BJJ gi, during what appeared to be a gym repo. The TMZ title was a little inflammatory – “NHL STAR DUSTIN PENNER ACCUSED OF ASSAULT IN GYM REPO.”
However, the article made abundantly clear that the police did not consider it an assault, but rather a civil case.
Dustin Penner is accused of assaulting a local gym manager … but cops say it’s just a civil dispute over money.
Here’s what allegedly went down — an Orange County gym that holds kickboxing classes for kids got rolled by 6 guys and a German Shepherd back in December. The crew made off with everything — punching bags, floor mats, boxing dummies.
Sources connected to the Orange County gym say Penner was one of the guys who made off with all the gear. In the video you can see the 2-time Stanley Cup winner squaring off with a manager of the gym.
Penner tells TMZ he was just helping a buddy repo the gear because the gym had missed payments on the equipment.
But our gym sources insist they’ve paid in full, and they consider it a robbery. Cops disagree, and tell us they’ve decided it’s a civil matter, not criminal.
In an extremely detailed series of tweets, Penner took issue with TMZ’s characterization of the incident, and alleged that according to police, it was he who was assaulted, and that the video had been misleadingly edited.
According to Penner, the facility in question is not an “Orange County gym that holds kickboxing classes for kids.” It is the Carlson Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club in Anaheim Hills, Calif. The manager is alleged to be BJJ black belt and pro MMA fighter Nick Moghaddam, who is believed to be the figure in the blue BJJ gi. Penner refers to him as Mugatu, the arch villain from Zoolander. The gym owner is alleged to be Arnold Chau.
By Penner’s detailed telling, the equipment was repoed for non payment. According to Penner, his friend Eric Lee, founder of the MMA lifestyle line Vanguard MMA, asked the ex-NHL player to accompany him to the repo. As an aside, asking a former NHL star to help you repo equipment from a BJJ gym is kind of cool. Penner alleges that he his sole role was to prevent assault.
Penner provides a great deal of detail on his social network.
Penner, 33, won the Stanley Cup in his first full season with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, and added a second Stanley Cup in his first full season with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012, He is currently an unrestricted free agent.
