Former Saints star safety Darren Sharper was charged Friday with drugging and raping two women in Los Angeles, one in October and one in January, according to a complaint filed by the L.A. district attorney's office.
In both incidents Sharper is accused of following a similar pattern of raping women whom he had invited to his hotel room and given them liquid shots possibly containing Ambien and morphine, causing them to pass out, prosecutors said.
Sharper, 38, is currently being investigated in a rape case in New Orleans, and L.A. prosecutors revealed Friday that he is also being investigated for rapes in Arizona and Nevada. His attorney in New Orleans has maintained his innocence.
L.A. prosecutors allege Sharper met two women at a West Hollywood nightclub on Oct. 30, 2013 and invited them to another party. On the way, Sharper told the women he had to stop by his hotel room to pick up something and invited both women up to his room, according to the allegations.
There, he gave each woman a shot, and both women subsequently passed out, prosecutors say. One woman told investigators she woke up naked hours later with Sharper sexually assaulting her. The second woman then woke up and "interrupted his actions," according to prosecutors.
On Jan. 14, Sharper met two separate woman at the same West Hollywood nightclub and invited them to a party. Stopping at his hotel, he invited both up to his room, offered them a shot and each passed out, prosecutors allege.
When they woke up hours later the next day, one of the women told authorities she believed she had been sexually assaulted. Both women left the hotel and sought medical treatment, authorities said.
Sharper is accused of possessing morphine and zolpidem, commonly known as Ambien. Prosecutors charged Sharper with two counts of rape by use of drugs, four counts of furnishing a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance, all felonies.
Since his Jan. 17 arrest in Los Angeles, Sharper has remained free on $200,000 bond. At a hearing Friday, prosecutors asked the judge to increase Sharper's bond to $10 million in part because of the fact that Sharper lives in Miami and has pending rape investigations in three other states. The judge delayed ruling on the prosecutors' request until Sharper's arraignment scheduled for Feb. 20.
Ambien, a sleep-promoter and muscle-relaxer, is commonly used as a "knock-out drug" among criminals because of its rapid onset within 10 to 30 minutes. The drug causes memory loss and it can only be detected for a short time after it is ingested, according to a May 2009 peer-reviewed medical journal article.
In the New Orleans case, Sharper, who until his L.A. arrest was working as an NFL Network commentator, met a woman in the Central Business District during a night of drinking on Sept. 22 following the Saints' home victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
According to a New Orleans police report, the woman, whose age was not given, told police she drank a "large amount of alcohol" during the night of bar-hopping that continued into the early morning of Sept. 23. She said she met Sharper at one of the bars and he took her back to his apartment at 701 Tchoupitoulas St. There, he had sex with her without her consent, according to the report.
Sharper has not been arrested or charged in the New Orleans case, but a spokesman for Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro confirmed Friday it remains an ongoing investigation.
Sharper remains suspended without pay indefinitely, an NFL Network spokesperson said Friday.
Sharper, who played for the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and Saints from 1997-2010, was a six-time All-Pro and a member of the NFL 2000's All-Decade Team.
He was a major player in bringing the Saints their first world championship, when they defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 31-17, in Super Bowl XLIV during the 2009 season. He started 14 games in the regular season that year and led the NFL in interceptions (9) and interceptions returned for touchdowns (3).
Staff writer Katherine Terrell contributed to this report.
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