Two women who said they were eyewitnesses when suspended Notre Dame senior cornerback Devin Butler was arrested early Saturday dispute police reports that said Butler resisted arrest and hit and tackled an officer, according to the South Bend Tribune.
Butler’s girlfriend, Haleigh Bailey, told the newspaper Butler “was abused and wrongly arrested” and that he neither tackled nor hit police officer Aaron Knepper during an altercation outside a South Bend, Ind., bar.
Butler broke his left foot for the second time in six months in June. He was suspended indefinitely Sunday, three days before he pleaded not guilty to two felonies — resisting law enforcement and battery of an officer.
If convicted, Butler faces up to 2 1/2 years in prison. His next court date is scheduled for Sept. 1.
Another woman, Selina Bell, the fiancee of Irish receiver and captain Torii Hunter Jr., told the newspaper that Butler did not tackle Knepper and said he wasn’t capable because of his foot injury.
According to an affidavit, Knepper used a Taser to subdue Butler after Butler “grabbed onto Officer Knepper’s duty belt and physically ripped it off of him.”
Knepper has been named in civil lawsuits alleging misconduct three times since 2012.
Butler was one of six Notre Dame players arrested in two separate incidents last weekend. Senior safety Max Redfield was dismissed from the team Sunday after he and four other players were arrested Friday night in Fulton County, Ind., following a traffic stop.
All five of those players — including sophomore linebacker Te’von Coney, sophomore running back Dexter Williams, redshirt freshman cornerback Ashton White and freshman receiver Kevin Stepherson — face preliminary misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana. Redfield, Williams and Stepherson also face an additional misdemeanor charge of possession of a gun without a license.
Coach Brian Kelly said Wednesday that unless the university decides otherwise, Coney, Williams, White and Stepherson will be available to play in the season opener Sept. 4 at Texas.
