Police Investigating Detroit Tigers Player for Allegedly Drugging, Raping Woman

The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating a sexual assault complaint against a 28-year-old Detroit Tigers player, but won’t make a charging decision this week, officials said.

The player hasn’t been named, but The Detroit News is reporting that police are investigating a claim that Tigers relief pitcher Evan Reed, 28, sexually assaulted a woman in a MotorCity Casino Hotel room on March 30.

The newspaper said the information came from two sources from the Detroit Police Department. Reed hasn’t been charged.

The county prosecutor’s office acknowledged its investigation centers around events at the MotorCity Casino Hotel the night before the Tigers’ Opening Day (March 31), the Detroit Free Press said.

The alleged victim, a 45-year-old woman, waited two days before reporting the incident to police. She reportedly told police she was drugged and raped after meeting Reed at a Royal Oak bar, CBS Detroit said.

The woman said she had several drinks and danced with Reed, then doesn’t remember anything until she woke up the next morning at the hotel, lying naked next to Reed. The woman said the sheets on the bed showed evidence of the assault, CBS said.

When she got up to take a shower, Reed reportedly told her to leave his room.

Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Maria Miller said in a statement Wednesday that “a thorough review of all the evidence must be conducted before a decision can be made,” and that its unlikely a charging decision will be made before the Memorial Day holiday. She declined to discuss specifics of the investigation.

Reed, in his second year with the Tigers, pitched against the Kansas City Royals on Opening Day. He spent most of the 2013 season pitching for the Tigers’ Triple-A team in Toledo.

In a statement after the woman claimed she had been drugged and raped, Tigers officials acknowledged the “very serious allegation” made against Reed and called it “concerning.”

Reed’s attorney, David Gorcyca, said in a statement, also issued last month, that a thorough investigation will show Reed has “nothing to fear.”

“During the infancy of this investigation, no one should formulate any conclusions that a crime has been committed,” Gorcyca said.