National Football League

Wild new revelations in Big Ben sexual assault probe

Published Mar. 25, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

The probe of the alleged sexual assault of a college student by NFL star Ben Roethlisberger has been slowed by the revelation that security video recordings do not exist, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Thursday.

Separately, KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh reported it was told that the woman has declined to have a second interview with police.

The newspaper said the woman's attorney did not return messages seeking comment. Roethlisberger's attorney declined to comment.

Carl Cansino, the attorney for Capital City nightclub where the incident allegedly took place, said the Georgia bar's security video recordings from March 5 had been overwritten and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was unable to retrieve any evidence from the recordings. He also said no cameras were trained on the staff restroom near a storage corridor where the assault allegedly occurred.

"The DVD system overwrote itself," Cansino told the Tribune-Review. "Had it just been deleted, they might have been able to save some of it."

Cansino also said an unnamed member of the Steelers quarterback's entourage captured camera phone footage in the nightclub's VIP room. He characterized the content as typical of a birthday celebration and said it shows the 20 year-old Georgia College & State University sophomore with Roethlisberger around the time of the incident.

Authorities said they have interviewed eight to 10 members of the quarterback's group from the night in question. GBI agents said Roethlisberger hasn't talked to authorities since a brief interview with Milledgeville detectives, and District Attorney Fred Bright hasn't decided whether to pursue charges.

Cansino said he supplied investigators with a copy of the driver's license employees seized from Roethlisberger's accuser weeks before she was seen with him. The date on the license was altered to make her appear two years older, he said.

Cansino also told the Tribune-Review that authorities informed him the woman's blood alcohol level was above 0.20 percent -- more than 10 times the legal limit for drivers younger than 21 in Georgia and more than twice the limit for motorists 21 and older.