Former Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton pleads guilty in daughter assault case

One-time Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor in a case arising from an altercation with his teenage daughter, officials said.

Hamilton, 40, pleaded guilty in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday to unlawful restraint under a plea deal that dismisses a 2020 felony indictment for injury to a child, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office said in social media postings.

State District Judge Mike Thomas sentenced Hamilton to one year of deferred probation, fined him $500 and ordered him to pay court costs, do community service and attend parenting and anger management classes. Thomas ordered him not to consume alcohol, be subject to random urine drug tests and have no contact with the daughter he restrained. If he satisfies the probation's requirements, the charge will be dismissed.

Hamilton's attorneys had said the Texas Rangers Hall of Famer was innocent of injury to a child.

His 14-year-old daughter told her mother, Hamilton's ex-wife, that her father struck her after he became enraged by a comment from her.

He pulled away the chair on which she rested her feet and threw it, breaking the chair, she told detectives. It didn't hit her, but he grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her from the chair on which she sat. She fell to the floor, and he lifted her, threw her over his shoulder and carried her to her bedroom.

The girl said at this point she was telling Hamilton, "I'm sorry." Upon reaching her bedroom door, he tossed the teen onto her bed, pressed her face onto the mattress and began hitting her legs with an open hand and closed fist.

As he left the room, Hamilton's daughter said he told her to gather her things for school. When she replied that she had already put them