Woman Claims Basketball Player Raped Her No Charges Filed Yet; Colorado School Likely Will Suspend Player, Official Says
An 18-year-old woman told police she was raped by a college basketball player from Colorado who came to Coeur d’Alene last week to play in a game.
Colorado Northwestern Community College officials said Monday they believe school policy has been broken and they likely will suspend the player.
The Coeur d’Alene woman and a friend watched the game between North Idaho College and Colorado Northwestern on Thursday evening, according to a Coeur d’Alene police report.
The two women then went to Shari’s Restaurant, where they met some of the players from the Colorado college.
One of the players gave the woman his phone number at the Comfort Inn where he was staying.
After running some errands, the woman called the basketball player early Friday and agreed to meet him at his hotel room, according to the police report.
The two watched television for a while and then began “making out,” according to the report.
About 3:30 a.m. the basketball player became more forceful, taking the woman’s clothes off against her protest, she told police.
The man told her he thought she knew that he invited her to the room to have sex, according to the report. He then held her down and raped her, she told police.
The woman reported the rape at 9 a.m. Police searched the room and found a used condom, according to the report.
Capt. Carl Bergh said the basketball player has not been arrested or charged with a crime.
“The person is outside the state of Idaho and doesn’t pose any danger to the victim at this time,” Bergh said.
Police in the suspect’s hometown have agreed to interview the man while Coeur d’Alene police continue their investigation, he said.
Robert A. Anderson Jr., Northwestern Colorado president, said it is against school policy for a student to have a person of the opposite sex in their room while on an athletic outing.
“It appears that has occurred,” Anderson said. “It looks like there is immediate suspension that could be in order.”
The case will be forwarded to the Kootenai County prosecutor’s office for possible charges, Bergh said.
, DataTimes