MONTEBELLO, NY — from www.lohud.com – Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor was arrested in a Rockland hotel overnight and is facing a felony rape charge involving an attack on a 15-year-old girl who apparently was a runaway from New York City controlled by a pimp, authorities said this morning.
The 51-year-old former New York Giants linebacker was taken into custody by Ramapo police at the Holiday Inn off Airmont Road, Ramapo Police Detective Lt. Brad Weidel said.
Taylor was being held in the town police lockup pending arraignment in Ramapo Justice Court this afternoon. One of the charges being considered is third-degree rape, a charge that involves having intercourse with a minor.
The victim was reportedly beaten during the attack.
Taylor’s lawyer, Kenneth Gribetz, said he has not seen the charges or the details of accusations.
Gribetz, a former Rockland district attorney, said he’s confident Taylor will be released on bail later this afternoon and eventually exonerated.
“We firmly contend he is innocent of the charges and will be fully exonerated,” Gribetz said.
Gribetz and his law partner, Deborah Lowenberg, met with Taylor at the Ramapo police lockup.
“He’s upset as anyone would in this situation,” Gribetz said of Taylor. “He’s looking forward to an early arraignment and release.”
Taylor, a football icon and one of the NFL’s greatest defensive players, has a history of drug abuse and other run-ins with the law. He has tested positive for cocaine several times during his NFL career and has been arrested for buying cocaine from undercover police officers.
Taylor, who has a home in New Jersey, told police he was a resident of Pembroke Pines, Fla. He has frequently played golf in Rockland.
Ramapo police were planning a news conference later this afternoon to provide more details in the case.
The victim apparently was a runaway from the Bronx who was brought by a pimp to the Holiday Inn where Taylor was staying, Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence said this morning.
from www.nytimes.com – The former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor was arrested early Thursday morning and will be charged with third-degree rape involving a 15-year-old girl at a hotel in Montebello, N.Y., according to police.
The Journal News reported that the victim was a runaway from the Bronx who was taken to the Holiday Inn in Montebello by a pimp, according to Ramapo supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence. She was treated at a hospital.
“She was a runaway since March and there was a pimp involved,” Mr. St. Lawrence told the Journal News. “She got punched in the face. We’re not sure who did it.”
The police have scheduled a news conference for 3 p.m. to discuss the case, and have said Mr. Taylor will be arraigned on third-degree rape charges this afternoon because the victim is a minor.
Mr. Taylor, 51, lists his residence as Pembroke Pines, Fla., but he also owns a home in northern New Jersey. Montebello, a village in Rockland County about 25 miles north of New York City, is close to the New York-New Jersey state line; the hotel is located just off the New York Thruway.
Mr. Taylor, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999 and is considered one of the best defensive players of all time, had a 13-year career with the Giants that was marred by problems with drug and alcohol. He was suspended several times by the N.F.L. and was arrested multiple times for drug possession. In the past few years, Mr. Taylor has re-emerged as a public personality, including working in front of the camera on N.F.L. broadcasts, and has said his drug problems are in his past.
Last November, he was charged in Dade County, Fla., with leaving the scene of an accident. He was released on $500 bond; the case is still pending.
Officials from the Giants and the N.F.L. said they would have no immediate comment on the arrest Thursday.