Pippen Altercation Reportedly Triggered by Fan Spitting, Using Racial Epithet

Former Chicago Bulls forward Scottie Pippen was accused of assaulting a man seeking an autograph on Sunday night. But after turning himself in to the police, it seems that Pippen has another side to the story.

Pippen contacted police after he was named a suspect in the assault of a man outside of a restaurant in Malibu, at which point he was interviewed by authorities.

UPDATE: By Ethan Norof on June 27, 2013 at 7:05 a.m. ET

The man who alleged Pippen of the allegations has denied that he used a racial slur at the time of the incident, according to TMZ.

--End of Update-- 

At one point it was reported that Pippen had been arrested, but following an interview with police, Pippen was released with the investigation ongoing.

The New York Daily News followed up with the TMZ report that Pippen was being investigated, bringing up a different story after talking to police and a source who was at the scene on Sunday night.

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Investigators said a violent argument broke out after an autograph-seeker took photos of Pippen, 47, and his family. The unidentified man was later taken to a hospital with a head injury, investigators said.

But a source said Pippen was the real victim. The fan started the tussle, spit on the ex-athlete and screamed the called him [sic] the N-word, the source said, adding that Pippen was holding his 4-year-old daughter at the time.

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The source also called the allegation that Pippen had assaulted anyone "a crock," and said that when the alleged victim left the scene, he was in no way injured.

That original report from TMZ stated that the autograph-seeker was taken to the hospital with broken teeth and a swollen mouth.

On top of that, several witnesses told officials that the autograph-seeker was drunk at the time of the incident.

Pippen's lawyer is contemplating filing a countersuit for assault (which would apparently be linked to the man spitting on Pippen) and filing a false police report.