Former NBA player Mateen Cleaves has been on trial for sexual assault stemming from an incident outside of a motel room back in 2016.
The former Detroit Piston can be seen on video running outside to catch the 24-year old victim and dragging her back to the room.
In the shocking footage that was released this week, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office said the following:
“The first clip shows Cleaves’ accuser walking away from the motel partially nude, followed closely by Cleaves in pursuit. Cleaves is seen wearing only socks,” WXYZ Detroit said of the footage, which can be viewed below. “The video shows Cleaves grab the woman, who we are not identifying, spin her around and pull her back towards the room she just tried to leave. She resists, bending her knees and trying to pull away. … 13 minutes later, Cleaves’ accuser is seen on video again, this time running from the former MSU star who can be seen chasing her, then grabbing her with both arms and pulling her back to the room again. The struggle continues until she ultimately falls to the ground. Seconds later, she is seen trying to pull away again. Once more, Cleaves pulls her back, wrapping both arms around her waist and pulling her back to the room.”
According to The Daily Wire,
Colleen Dowdall, a motel resident and witness to the incident, said in court that she called the police after the alleged victim repeatedly yelled “help me” during the dragging. “She looked at me and she said: ‘Help me, help me, help me.’ And I had the phone in my hand and I told her I’m on the phone right now calling the police,” Dowdall recalled. “I looked Mateen in the eyes, he didn’t say one word.”
“She said he got on top of her,” the witness added, referencing a conversation she had that night with the alleged victim. “She couldn’t fight him off and she just laid there.”
Cleaves’ attorneys claim the video shows their client attempting “to protect the partially nude woman when he pulled her back into the room,” WXYZ reported.
…..
According to Click on Detroit, the accuser met Cleaves at a charity golf event the day before the incident. At about 1 a.m., the accuser’s boyfriend left a location where the group was drinking to give another friend a ride home, according to the report. “The victim, thinking they would return to the golf club, rode with Cleaves in his car. It is alleged that Cleaves took the complainant to a motel located in the 2400 block of West Grand Blanc, in Mundy Township, held her in a room against her will, and sexually assaulted her, [Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L.] Worthy said.”