Last December, San Diego prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges against former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza after he was accused of raping a 17-year-old girl in October 2021. New reporting by Yahoo Sports, which reviewed a 200+ page transcript of a 110-minute meeting between prosecutors and the alleged victim and her lawyers, indicates that Araiza wasn’t present during the alleged rape.
Matt Araiza Wasn’t Present at Alleged Gang Rape, Per Prosecutors
Per Yahoo, Araiza couldn’t have been involved in the alleged rape because he left the party in question before the incident occurred. “All I know is that at that point, suspect Araiza is gone from the party,” deputy district attorney Trisha Amador said. Araiza was not present in any video evidence recovered from the night of the alleged incident, per ESPN.
San Diego police reportedly worked on the case for 10 months before sending it to the district attorney without a recommendation for prosecution. Together, police and prosecutors interviewed more than 35 witnesses and executed 10 search warrants.
Araiza, nicknamed the “Punt God” following his run at San Diego State, was selected by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Buffalo was “made aware” of the alleged rape after the draft, looked into the incident, and decided to retain Araiza.
However, graphic allegations included in a civil lawsuit against Araiza changed the Bills’ stance. Buffalo released Araiza on Aug. 27, 2022, one day after the lawsuit was released.
The civil lawsuit against Araiza is still ongoing. The plaintiff’s lawyer, Dan Gilleon, who previously told CBS 8 in San Diego that the witness who said Araiza wasn’t at the party was a “buddy” of his Araiza’s, released a statement to Fox News.
“Team Araiza continues to litigate the case in the media because they know the information they’re leaking has no relevance whatsoever to the lawsuit,” Gilleon said. “… This case is going to trial, and we’ll force Araiza to talk.”
Meanwhile, Araiza expressed his appreciation to prosecutors in a statement to Pro Football Talk on Tuesday.
“I am aware that the facts of this case have been made public,” Araiza said. “I am deeply gratified for the thorough work of the DA’s office in San Diego and for all the witnesses that were willing to come forward and tell the truth. I am thankful that the facts of this case, as provided by the witnesses, will prove that what I have been saying from the beginning is, in fact, the truth.”