Former NFL football player Darren Sharper, center, shown here in a previous court appearance, is charged with two rapes in Los Angeles.(Photo: Liz O. Baylen, AP)
Story Highlights- The former NFL star is sought in New Orleans
- He allegedly raped nine women in five states
- LA police are unsure when Sharper will be extradited to New Orleans
Former NFL star Darren Sharper has been jailed in downtown Los Angeles and will remain there until he is sent to New Orleans to appear in court on charges that he raped two women there last September, according to Los Angeles police.
Sharper, 38, surrendered to Los Angeles police Thursday night without incident after authorities in New Orleans obtained a warrant for his arrest. Police suspect him of raping nine women in five states: two in New Orleans, two in Los Angeles, two in Las Vegas, two in Arizona and one in Miami, Fla.
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So far, he only faces charges in Los Angeles and New Orleans while the other cases remain under investigation. He pleaded not guilty to the Los Angeles charges last week and left the court after posting $1 million in bail. On Thursday, he turned himself in on the warrant from New Orleans, which does not allow for bail, Los Angeles police said. Police said it's not clear when he will be extradited to New Orleans.
According to court documents and police reports, Sharper followed a similar pattern in most of the alleged rapes: He partied with them and then raped them after providing them with drinks that were laced with drugs to knock them out.
Sharper's attorneys, Blair Berk and Leonard Levine, disputed the allegations in court last week in Los Angeles.
"All of these were consensual contact between Mr. Sharper and women who wanted to be in his company, who voluntarily ingested alcohol and drugs in many cases," Levine said to the judge last week.
On Thursday, New Orleans police obtained an arrest warrant for Sharper and an acquaintance, Erik Nunez, 26, both accused of raping two women there in September. Nunez surrendered to New Orleans police on Friday and was booked on two counts of aggravated rape.
If convicted, Sharper and Nunez could be sent to prison for life without the possibility of parole.
Nunez is connected to the same women's advocacy charity events in which Sharper sometimes appeared as a star attraction to raise breast cancer awareness and benefit charity, according to social media accounts in his name. A Facebook page in the name of Erik Nunez features a poster advertising the appearances of Sharper and other players along with "Get Checked or Check out," a health charity that promotes breast-cancer awareness and is run by Sharper's marketing agent Darryn DeWalt.
A LinkedIn account in Nunez' name describes his job as "event coordinator/sales executive at Get Checked or Check Out."
DeWalt's wife, Cherine, told USA TODAY Sports Thursday said she didn't personally know Nunez but her staff might. She declined further comment. A message left for Darryn DeWalt was not returned.
"Last week, investigators learned that not one, but two women were allegedly sexually assaulted by Sharper in the same apartment the night of September 23rd," New Orleans police said in a statement. "New information uncovered also indicates that Nunez also allegedly raped both women that night at the same location."
USA TODAY Sports reported last week that on Sept. 22, the day before the alleged rapes, Sharper sent a message on Twitter to promote a women's football camp near Slidell, La., which he was to attend two days later with New Orleans Saints receiver Lance Moore. The event's promotional poster included the logo of "Get Checked or Check Out."
Court documents state that one alleged rape victim in Louisiana met Sharper at an event for Saints players the same day he sent the tweet. After the event, she accompanied Sharper to a bar and consumed a drink that Sharper gave her. Her next memory is waking up the next day with Sharper on top of her sexually assaulting her, according to the records.
The woman went to the hospital for a sexual assault examination on Sept. 24., the day Sharper was a star attendee at the football camp for women, intended to raise breast cancer awareness. A promotional poster for the event said, "Let's Get Physical" and it advertised "Get Crunk Cocktail Hours."
A swab taken from the alleged victim during her exam showed the presence of Sharper's DNA, according to court records.
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2014/02/28/darren-sharper-rape-new-orleans-jailed-arrest-warrant-los-angeles/5899385/
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