ORLANDO, FLA. (AP) - Orlando guard Gilbert Arenas was served with child support and custody papers as he left the court during halftime of the Magic’s game against Miami.
A process server stopped Arenas as he walked off the court during Thursday night’s loss to the Heat. The court documents, obtained by The Associated Press, were a California petition filed by Laura Mendoza Govan. She identified herself as his ex-girlfriend in the documents.
The petition seeks custody and child support for three children that Govan says Arenas fathered and has since “financially cut off.” She is also seeking support for another unborn child as well monthly support for the other children.
In the petition, she is seeking $109,000 in monthly support payments from Arenas and $1.3 million annually.
Govan could not be reached for comment.
A hearing in the case has been set for March 8 in Los Angeles. Orlando plays at Sacramento on March 9. Arenas and the Magic played at Washington on Friday night.
The guard was unavailable for comment, but his attorney, Lisa Fishberg of Washington-based Schertler & Onorato, said in a written statement that, “This is a private matter involving young children. It is inappropriate for Ms. Govan and her attorneys to attempt to turn it into a public spectacle.”
Govan states in the documents that she and Arenas had about a nine-year relationship that included a September 2008 engagement. The documents also say they lived together in a pair of homes that Arenas owned in Virginia while playing with the Wizards.
Govan is originally from California and the documents say she has returned to the West Coast and that she and the children are living in a low-budget hotel.
She claims in her petition that during the course of the relationship Arenas kicked her out of the homes several times. She says Arenas cut off contact with her and the children in early December, shortly before he was traded to the Magic and moved to Florida.
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