President Donald Trump personally asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help resolve the case involving three UCLA basketball players who were arrested on shoplifting charges in Hangzhou, China, reports ESPN.
The White House confirmed in an email to The Washington Post that the president brought up the issue with Xi during his meeting on Saturday in Beijing. Xi promised that the players would be treated fairly and expeditiously, according to the Post.
LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley, and Jalen Hill were questioned Tuesday about allegedly stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store next to the team’s hotel in Hangzhou. The team was there before leaving to play Georgia Tech in a game on Saturday in Shanghai. The three players were released on bail early Wednesday morning and have been staying at a lakeside hotel in Hangzhou since then, reports ESPN.
According to ESPN, there is surveillance footage of the players shoplifting. The rest of the team flew back to the United States on Saturday without the three freshmen. An anonymous U.S. official told The Post that the charges against the three players had been reduced and that the case is heading towards a resolution, reports ESPN.
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