Comment Buffalo Bills rookie Matt Araiza is among three former and current San Diego State football players named in a lawsuit accusing them of participating in the gang-rape of a minor. The incident reportedly occurred during a party last October at Araiza’s off-campus residence during his redshirt junior season at SDSU. He won the Ray Guy Award in the postseason as the nation’s best collegiate player before declaring for the NFL draft, where he was selected by the Bills in the sixth round. The San Diego County District Attorney’s office is weighing evidence recently submitted by detectives to determine whether to file charges, according to the Los Angeles Times. No arrests have been made. The university launched its own investigation in July, according to a timeline posted on its website. SDSU said that while it was first made aware of allegations of sexual assault shortly after the party, campus officials suspended the investigation at the behest of the San Diego Police Department, which asked them not to take “action that could put jeopardizing his criminal investigation”. According to the lawsuit, the complainant, then 17 and identified in a California Superior Court filing as Jane Doe, went out with friends that night to find a pre-Halloween party. The address of the event in question was posted on Snapchat, the filing says, and by the time Doe and her companions arrived she was “obviously intoxicated.” Araiza, then 21, gave Doe a drink that allegedly contained not only alcohol but “other intoxicants,” according to the lawsuit. After learning from Doe that she was a high school student and therefore likely underage, according to the lawsuit, he is accused of taking her to a secluded area to have sex. Araiza then brought her to a room that already had three men in it, according to the filing, including the two other defendants, Zavier Leonard and Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko. Leonard is on the Aztecs’ roster as a redshirt freshman. Evaliko was on last season’s roster as a freshman. The lawsuit says both were about 18 at the time of the party. According to the lawsuit, Doe “passed in and out of consciousness while being raped.” She recalled several men having sex with her and seeing “a light around her circumference as if someone was taking video using a cell phone,” the lawsuit states. The ordeal continued for about 1 ½ hours, according to the affidavit, until the party was “shut down.” Bloodied and distraught, Doe found her friends and told them she had been raped, the lawsuit says. Within two days, she reported the incident to the police. “We were recently made aware of a civil complaint involving Matt effective October 2021,” the Bills said Thursday in a statement. “Due to the serious nature of the complaint, we have conducted a thorough review of this matter. As this is an ongoing political matter, we will have no further comment at this point.” Rams-Bengals joint practice turns into helmet brawl fest The NFL said it was “aware” of the matter but had no immediate comment. The league’s personal conduct policy would not apply because the alleged events occurred before Araiza was drafted. If he commits another offense as an NFL player, he could be subject to enhanced discipline if he is found to have a history of misconduct. Kerry Armstrong, Araiza’s attorney, told the Los Angeles Times that he had not seen the complaint. He described the rape allegation as false and said his investigator spoke to witnesses at the party who contradicted the allegations. “It’s a shakedown because he’s with the Buffalo Bills now,” Armstrong said. The attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the now 18-year-old Doe told ESPN that the alleged incident was “a horrific crime, the kind that happens all too often.” “What makes these crimes different is not just that they were committed by athletes who have the same right,” the attorney, Dan Gilleon, said in a statement. “As heinous as the crimes, for months, multiple organizations – SDSU, the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego District Attorney’s Office and now the Buffalo Bills – have acted as bystanders in denying that my client deserves justice even if the accused are prize-winning athletes”. In July, Doe’s father criticized SDSU for waiting months to begin its investigation. “To keep it quiet… [while] the same people who allegedly did this have been allowed to roam free, to graduate, to continue playing their sports,” he told the Los Angeles Times at the time. “It makes me frustrated.” The university said on its website that when it received anonymous submissions in October containing “third-hand information about alleged sexual assault off campus,” it asked those making the submissions to meet with the school’s Title IX coordinator to provide more information. , but that her requests were denied. Those who provided anonymous information through December, the school said, were also asked to speak with San Diego police. Describing the Title IX investigation that began last month as “an administrative process that only determines whether college or university policy has been violated,” SDSU said it “has confidence in the more robust criminal investigation process and continues to comply with the SDPD ». “Something like that stays with you forever,” Doe told the LA Times last month. “And all I can really do now is just hope that I can be vindicated in some way and feel like people are facing consequences for their actions because I feel like I’ve faced consequences for their actions.” Araiza, nicknamed the “Punt God” for his blistering kicks, won the Bills’ starting job in a training camp battle with current veteran Matt Haack, who was released on Monday. Mark Maske contributed to this report.
