18-year-old Faces Charges After NSFW Toy Hits WNBA Fan

The WNBA is actively looking for perpetrators who threw neon green NSFW toys at three separate games.

18-year-old Faces Charges After NSFW Toy Hits WNBA Fan

NSFW toy throwing teen arrested after WNBA game (Image via FirstSportz)

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WNBA stars Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark are both out due to injuries, but their teams are trying to improve their season record. Both sat courtside when neon green NSFW toys came hurtling down onto the court.

The first instance was when the Golden State Valkyries were playing against the Atlanta Dream in their home court. After a thorough investigation, the perpetrator has been apprehended.

The 2nd instance was at another Valkyries game, but this time, the toy fell onto the court, right in front of Reese as she sat on the home side of the bench. The Sky forward was shocked, and then joked about it with Fever star and the league’s funniest player, Sydney Colson.

This made it two different toys, at 2 different locations. When everyone was starting to believe it was a Valkyries fan who was traveling to their team’s road games, a 3rd incident happened, this time in Phoenix, Arizona.

This toy fell at the feet of Clark’s teammate, Sophie Cunningham, who had asked fans to stop throwing such toys on the court. She warned that such items could end up hurting a player.

At that game, a 4th neon green toy was found in the stands. A fan recorded the video of it lying beside a seat and informed security that it was thrown from one of the sections behind them.

As per FOX 10 Phoenix, the perpetrator, 18-year-old Kaden Lopez, was caught on video taking the neon green toy out of his sweater and throwing it forward. Some witnesses followed Lopez and tackled him, and waited until police arrived.

WNBA, Phoenix Mercury, and the victim want to press charges

Once police arrived, they arrested Kaden Lopez after confirming through video footage that it was indeed him who threw the NSFW toy. That toy hit an adult male while he was watching the WNBA game with his 9-year-old niece.

The victim wants the 18-year-old to be prosecuted. As per court documents retrieved by FOX 10 Phoenix, Lopez was sorry. He claimed he just wanted to join in ‘the stupid prank that was trending on social media.’

He had bought the toy the day before. His intentions were just to take it to the game and launch it at an appropriate time. This interest in quietly becoming part of a social media trend has now backfired.

His mugshot has gone viral, and fans are wondering what went through his mind to risk his future with such a prank. Everyone knows that the WNBA has ramped up arena security after last season’s incidents.

With the 1st perpetrator already identified and arrested, it was only a matter of time before the others were caught. Now, the WNBA and the Phoenix Mercury want Lopez to be prosecuted for disorderly conduct.

WNBA implements new policy after NSFW toys take center stage

Four successive incidents have become an embarrassment for the WNBA. Instead of letting the product on the court and the players do the talking, four neon green NSFW toys have taken center stage.

Caitlin Clark courtside
Caitlin Clark courtside (Image via Open Source/X)

There was only one game on schedule earlier, and the WNBA decided to implement a new policy to avoid another repeat of these incidents. They implemented a ‘no bag policy’ to crack down on this issue.

It is not clear if they will continue implementing this until the situation improves. Even if they stop the policy, the league might not take chances and deploy additional arena security to stop these incidents from recurring.

In three of those incidents, play came to a halt, and players, officials, and coaching staff were annoyed. Such incidents will only hamper the growth the sport has been enjoying.

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