SAN DIEGO — A young woman filed a lawsuit Thursday, accusing three San Diego State University football players — including a star punter now with the NFL — of gang raping her at an off-campus party when she was 17 years old.
The suit alleges that 22-year-old Matt Araiza, a punter-placekicker who was recently picked up by the Buffalo Bills, had sex with the teen in a side yard of a College Area residence before bringing her into a bedroom where a group of men took turns raping her.
Football players Zavier Leonard and Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko were part of that group, according to the lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court.
“It was a horrific crime, the kind of which happens too often,” said Dan Gilleon, the woman’s lawyer, in a statement. “My client deserves justice, even it the defendants are prized athletes.”
An attorney for Araiza denied the accusations against his client. Ewaliko’s lawyer noted that no criminal charges had been filed.
An attorney for Leonard could not be reached immediately for comment.
The young woman, now 18, said Halloween was approaching when she and her friends decided to go to the Oct. 16 party. She was in a fairy costume and already intoxicated when a man approached. That man, according to the lawsuit, was Araiza.
Araiza allegedly offered her a drink and then led her to a side area where the two had sex. He then led her inside to a room. Several men were there, and she was thrown face down on a bed, she said.
