Gottis Say Accuser Threw First Punch in High School Fight

The wife and daughter of John Gotti Jr., the namesake son of the notorious New York mob boss John "Dapper Don" Gotti, are facing assault charges stemming from a fistfight with a woman at a high school basketball game on Long Island. Kimberly Gotti, 55, and her daughter Gianna Gotti, 25, are accused of assaulting the woman after she asked them to stop cursing at players from the bleachers, the AP reports. John and Kimberly Gotti's son Joseph was on the court playing for Oyster Bay High School against rival Locust Valley High School on Thursday night.

The woman said Kimberly and Gianni Gotti punched her and pulled off her hat and wig, "which was held on by three clips and Velcro," according to court papers cited by multiple news organizations. The woman said she "felt as if my scalp was going to be ripped off" and described how additional people joined in and knocked her to the ground. The Gottis, who were each charged Friday with third-degree assault, disputed the woman's account. John Gotti Jr. told reporters on Thursday the woman assaulted his wife first. "That's the only reason why we're here," he said. "She threw a punch that hit my wife in the head." Kimberly and Gianni Gotti are scheduled to appear in Nassau District Court again on March 6.

(More John Gotti Jr. stories.)