PHILADELPHIA — Andray Blatche’s contract was guaranteed Monday night, and apparently he celebrated with the wrong people.
The Nets center was questioned by Philadelphia police about an alleged sexual assault that occurred at a team hotel early Tuesday morning, police commissioner Charles Ramsey told the New York Times. He was released without being charged, and was available for Tuesday night’s game against the 76ers.
Blatche was partying in a Four Seasons Hotel suite with two other men and three women in Center City, according to reports. A 21-year-old woman, described by the commissioner as “so intoxicated. …she is not going to be a good witness,” told police she was raped by one man and had consensual sex with another.
She went from the hotel to the hospital at about 4 a.m., according to reports. The police were attempting to gather DNA evidence and had yet to file any charges.
“From all accounts, (Blatche) was not personally in any kind of assault or anything like that,” Ramsey told the Times. “He was there but was not involved. …He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Blatche, a 26-year-old Syracuse native who signed with the Nets in the summer following seven controversial seasons in Washington, acknowledged his involvement Monday morning on Twitter.
“I’m ok and I didn’t do anything jus was n the area when it happened,” Blatche wrote to his followers late Tuesday morning, before erasing the tweet about an hour later.
Nets GM Billy King issued a brief statement confirming that a player was involved, but declined to discuss it further. Before Blatche was revealed as the player interviewed by police, his teammates were grilled by Philadelphia TV reporters about the incident.
Deron Williams was pestered with questions about his involvement, even though he wasn’t in the room. Asked how he was being treated by Philadelphia police, Williams reached his threshold.
“You’re a tool, man,” he said, laughing. “What’s wrong with you? Where are you from? What news are you with?”
Blatche was rejuvenating his career and image in Brooklyn, averaging 11.1 points and 6.1 rebounds before Tuesday’s game. Problems on and off the court plagued him during his time in Washington, where he was shot in a robbery attempt, arrested for soliciting a prostitute, derided for his partying and poor fitness, and eventually waived via the amnesty clause after last season.
The Nets signed him to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal in the summer, championing his weight loss and renewed commitment. His contract became guaranteed at the 5 p.m. deadline on Monday, not long before an alleged rape occurred in the hotel suite.
Source www.nydailynews.com
