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Roethlisberger police reports released, and it doesn’t sound good for Ben

By ArtieFufkin

Ben Roethlisberger poses for a photo on the night of the alleged incident. (Photo: Deadspin.com)

We’ve purposely avoided the whole Ben Roethlisberger debacle up until now, mainly because we didn’t want to get caught up in the speculation game before the facts of the case came out.  Especially when dealing with such a sensitive subject as sexual assault.

Today, the Milledgeville, Georgia Police Department released 572 pages of records from their investigation into the alleged events of March 4th & 5th of this year (since no charges were brought in the case, these records now become available to the public). The Smoking Gun brings us the full report, and after reading through the entire thing, it doesn’t sound good for Roethlisberger.

Here is the most relevant part of the report — the alleged victim’s statement to police from the morning after:

“Ben asked us to go to his ‘VIP’ area. . . .  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 [the club] and went to the first police car we saw.”

It should be noted that the alleged victim asked that the case be dropped, and her intoxication level at the time of the incident certainly raises doubts about her account of the events of that night.  But witness statements seem to corroborate that something definitely went on in that bathroom:

One witness, Ann Marie Lubatti, told investigators that she saw one of Roethlisberger’s bodyguards guide the alleged victim to a side door. Lubatti said that she immediately approached another bodyguard and said, “This isn’t right. My friend is back there with Ben. She needs to come back right now.” Lubatti, who described Roethlisberger as “noticeably intoxicated,” said she was rebuffed by the bodyguard, who remarked, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

The statements come together to paint a pretty grim picture of Roethlisberger on the night in question.  Now, with no charges being filed, Roger Goodell and Art Rooney will gather to decide the fate of Big Ben’s NFL career.  Rooney publicly addressed the matter earlier today, and there’s a chance that the Steelers will make a big statement and trade or cut Roethlisberger all together.  My guess is it will be a 4-game suspension … yet another instance of celebrities avoiding having to face any real consequences for their actions.