Star basketball player held for hit-and-run
A star basketball player with Greek champions Panathinaikos has been arrested on suspicion of seriously injuring an Athens motorcyclist with his car in a hit-and-run accident early yesterday. Police said both drivers were over the legal alcohol limit. The athlete, US national Mike Batiste, 27, is suspected of having hit Petros Stelios, also 27, on Kifissias Avenue near Halandri, at 4.40 a.m. Police said the Panathinaikos power forward then drove off, but crashed into a roadside billboard one kilometer further on. Batiste then allegedly tried to hide in a sports complex, but the 2.03-meter-tall player was spotted by a guard, who called the police. Stelios was hospitalized in serious condition with head injuries. Batiste told police who arrested him that he was also injured, and was hospitalized under guard.
