Buffalo Police arrested Sabres Forward Evander Kane after four people came forward to file complaints about alleged altercations at a downtown Buffalo bar on June 24th.
Watch the full police press conference in this story
Kane turned himself in Friday morning, a day after police say they came to the conclusion to file charges after speaking with the complainants and poring over surveillance video from Bottoms Up on Chippewa Street.
Past coverage:
- Evander Kane's accuser in June 2016 incident speaks out
- Kane cleared in December 2015 accusation of sexual assault
- 7 Eyewitness Sports reporter Nick Filipowski: It's time for Kane to grow up
The 24 year-old Kane is charged with four separate counts of non-criminal harassment and one count of criminal trespass, a misdemeanor. He was processed at Central Booking and issued a ticket to appear in Buffalo City Court on August 1st.
Police say the complainants include three women and a man. Kane stands accused of grabbing the complainants by the neck, arm, and hair. They were not injured.
Buffalo Police Chief Joseph Gramaglia says Kane is facing a criminal trespass charge because he refused to leave the bar that night and had to be forcefully removed.
Kane's attorney, Paul Cambria, told 7 Eyewitness News "[Kane] has denied any wrongdoing. We'll handle it in court."
The Buffalo Sabres released a statement regarding Kane's arrest, saying, "We are aware of the charges against Evander Kane stemming from an incident last month. Our organization will have no further comment at this time."
Originally, police investigated claims by two women who said they were roughed up by the hockey player on June 24th. Police revealed Friday that two more people had made similar accusations.
After learning of Friday's arrest, one of his alleged victims told 7 Eyewitness News she is "relieved he's realizing he did something wrong." She added some professional athletes "think they're better than everyone else."
After the alleged alteration in June, the same alleged victim told 7 Eyewitness News what she claimed happened:
"He came up to me, gave me a hug then proceeded to put his hands around my neck for a couple seconds - almost losing my breath. Then I got out of that situation and then later in the night he came back up, he pulled my shirt down and said inappropriate things and then later in the night again for the last thing took me by my wrists and dragged me to the back of Bottoms Up, took me to his car saying, cause I was screaming trying to say, 'Stop, stop, stop.' He said, 'You're making a scene, get in my car, you slut.' And then I proceeded to go back to the bouncers at Bottoms Up.
This is not his first time having legal trouble in Buffalo. In March, prosecutors said Kane would not face a sexual assault charges stemming from a December incident because there was no evidence supporting the allegation.
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