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Police statement details Roethlisberger's alleged assault

By the CNN Wire Staff
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Roethlisberger: Happy to put this behind
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Woman says Roethlisberger raped her in club bathroom after she tried to resist him
  • Roethlisberger invited her and friends to club's VIP section, offered them drinks
  • Prosecutor says he won't press charges because he cannot prove a crime happened
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(CNN) -- The woman who accused football star Ben Roethlisberger of raping her in March in a bar in Milledgeville, Georgia, described the alleged incident to police as the culmination of a night of bar-hopping.

A prosecutor decided this week that he would not pursue criminal charges against Roethlisberger, saying he could not prove that a crime had been committed.

The woman, a 20-year-old college student who has not been identified publicly, said she and her friends first saw the Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback on the night of March 4 at Velvet Elvis, a supper club in Milledgeville, which is 83 miles south of Atlanta, Georgia.

After posing with him for pictures, "we left him alone" and went to The Brick, a pizza and pasta place in the same town, she said.

Roethlisberger and his entourage were there, too, she said, adding, "We continued to have casual conversation. He even made crude, sexual remarks."

Afterward, both groups made their way to Capital City, she said. The nightclub describes itself as having "great music, awesome drinks, hot bartenders."

"Ben asked us to go to his 'VIP' area (back of Capital). We all went with him. He said there were shots for us, numerous shots were on the bar, and he told us to take them. His bodyguard came and took my arm and said come with me, he escorted me into a side door/hallway, and sat me on a stool. He left and Ben came back with his penis out of his pants. I told him it wasn't OK, no, we don't need to do this and I proceeded to get up and try to leave. I went to the first door I saw, which happened to be a bathroom. He followed me into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. I still said no, this is not OK, and he then had sex with me. He said it was OK. He then left without saying anything.

"I went out of the hallway/door to the side where I saw my friends. We left Capital and went to the first police car we saw."

The statement was among hundreds of pages of documents released Thursday by police. Public records show that Roethlisberger owns property on nearby Lake Oconee.

Roethlisberger's attorney has said no rape occurred.

In a statement, bar patron Ann Marie Lubatti told police that the back room of Capital City had been curtained off "and Ben was back there with 15-20 girls. He was buying everyone shots and just talking and taking pictures with everyone. At this point he was noticeably intoxicated."

Lubatti said she watched the 6-foot, 5-inch, 241-pound athlete enter the back room where her friend was. "I approached the other security guard and told him that she was in no shape to be back there with Ben Roethlisberger," she said. "He couldn't look me in the eye, and told me he didn't know what was going on. My friend went to open the door, and it was locked. No one would let us into the room, and the security guards acted like they had no idea what was going on.

"Eventually, [the alleged victim] came out and wanted to go home. She said that she told him 'this isn't right,' but he still insisted on having intercourse."

Another patron, Nicole Biancofiore, said the alleged victim "was dragged by a bodyguard to the back room in Capital. She was extremely intoxicated and not aware of what was happening."

Biancofiore said she spoke with club manager Rocky Duncan, who told her, "Ben was not going to do anything to ruin his reputation for the Steelers."

In his statement, Duncan told police that he had seen Roethlisberger "and his group of friends go in and out of my private bathroom located outside my office in the rear room of Capital City."

He said he noticed "a young lady sitting on a stool outside the bathroom talking to Ben."

"The ladies asked about going back there to see their friend, so I told them they could walk over to the open area and see her. After talking to the friend, I assured her her friend would be fine, because at last glance the 'victim' was still sitting outside the bathroom talking to Ben. That was the last I noticed of the situation."

At about 2 a.m., the alleged victim and several of her friends left the club and approached a police officer outside, according to Lubatti. He radioed Sgt. Jerry Blash, who approached on foot.

According to Blash's case summary, "he asked [the alleged victim] if Roethlisberger had raped her and she stated, 'No, I did not know what was going on,' because she was intoxicated so much."

The summary said, "Blash indicated that he asked the victim, 'Did he rape you?', and the victim stated 'no.' Blash asked the victim if they had sex, and she responded by saying, 'Well, I'm not sure.' "

Blash went to Capital City, where he found Roethlisberger and his entourage and told them about the allegation.

"Roethlisberger told Blash that he remembered her and he had told her that she was too drunk to be back there," the summary said.

"Roethlisberger did not allege any sexual intercourse with the female. Roethlisberger remembered her falling and hitting her head. The female's friends got mad because they could not come to the back."

In the summary, Blash acknowledged having made off-color remarks about the alleged victim at the club.

"When asked about a comment similar to 'this f------ b---- is drunk' or 'this b---- is drunk off her ass accusing Ben of assaulting her," Blash said that he did say something like that to the other Milledgeville police officers and indicated that Roethlisberger's bodyguards may have overheard the comment," the report said.

It added, "Blash indicted (sic) that he was mad because the victim was not being 'straight up' with him and that pissed him off."

Blash resigned Wednesday, Milledgeville Police Chief Woodrow Blue told CNN on Friday. He would not discuss reasons for the resignation.

According to Officer Jason Lopez, the woman told him that the alleged rape occurred as she was seated on the toilet in the bathroom, that the athlete did not use a condom and she did not know whether he ejaculated.

The alleged victim was taken to Oconee Regional Medical Center, where a sexual assault kit was completed. Officials reported they were not able to obtain enough genetic material to pursue an identification.