Police Officers Were Roethlisberger's Assistants, Not Bodyguards Or Security
POSTED: 5:09 pm EST March 10, 2010
UPDATED: 11:39 pm EST March 11, 2010
PITTSBURGH -- Two off-duty police officers from the Pittsburgh area were with Ben Roethlisberger on the night that a young woman says the Steelers quarterback sexually assaulted her at a Georgia nightclub.
Channel 4 Action News reporter Marcie Cipriani cited sources who told her that Trooper Ed Joyner, from the state police barracks in Washington, Pa., and Coraopolis police Officer Anthony Barravecchio were acting as Roethlisberger's assistants, not his bodyguards, which makes a difference under the law.
On Thursday, Barravecchio's attorney, Michael Santicola, spoke with WTAE Channel 4 Action News reporter Jim Parsons.
"My client saw absolutely no illegal activity whatsoever, nothing to indicate that anything out of line happened," said Santicola. "From what I see, the right decision is not to charge at all."
Santicola previously told Channel 4 Action News reporter Ari Hait that police in Milledgeville have yet to contact Barravecchio and they did not take a statement from him on the night of the alleged assault.
Barravecchio did not drink that night and is ready to talk to police whenever they want, Santicola said.
"When you ask me if Georgia authorities have contacted him, the answer is 'no,' and it's now been over a week and everybody was at the same place at the same time at one point in time. It makes me think, assuming these authorities -- they're good police officers and they know what they're doing -- and something gave them reason to pause," said Santicola.
Joyner has spent his time off-duty with Roethlisberger since 2005, according to Gov. Ed Rendell's office, so it is no surprise that he was seen with Roethlisberger last week in the Capital City club in Milledgeville, Ga.
Rendell's spokesperson said that Joyner applied for "supplemental employment" in April 2005. On that application, Joyner asked for permission to be a "driver and assistant to Ben Roethlisberger." The form claims Joyner would do things such as "help at autograph sessions, charity events, home games, make phone calls for Ben and open his mail." That request was granted nearly four years ago.
As a state employee, Joyner would not be allowed to act as paid security for Roethlisberger or anyone. That includes working the door at bars, security for a company, or in any position where it is likely he would have to make an arrest.
While Joyner and Barravecchio may have been deciding who went in and out of Capital City's VIP room, they were still only acting as Roethlisberger's assistants instead of paid security people, according to Cipriani's sources.
One source who spoke with both of those officers in the past few days told Cipriani that the two men never noticed anything wrong at the club and were surprised by the 20-year-old woman's allegation that a sex assault occurred there early Friday morning.
It's unclear whether local and state police who are investigating the case in Georgia plan to question Joyner and Barravecchio. Cipriani tried repeatedly on Wednesday to speak with Coraopolis police Chief Alan DeRusso and a state police representative, but neither was available to talk with her.
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