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Girlfriend of ND CB Devin Butler says police assaulted him

Stanford tight end Dalton Schultz (9) is tackled by Notre Dame cornerback Devin Butler during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015, in Stanford, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Stanford tight end Dalton Schultz (9) is tackled by Notre Dame cornerback Devin Butler during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015, in Stanford, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

The girlfriend of Notre Dame cornerback Devin Butler said the accusations that Butler was violent with police officers outside of a South Bend bar are false.

Butler’s girlfriend Haleigh Bailey, told the South Bend Tribune she was with Butler when the incident occurred and that the reports are not accurate.

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“I was there that entire night,” Bailey told the paper. “Reports say that everyone left the scene but I was still there and saw everything officers did to Devin.

“He was abused, and wrongly arrested. He never tackled an officer and he never intentionally hurt anyone. He had no reason to be tazed because he was never resisting arrest, and he was already on the ground complying when they tazed him.”

On Tuesday, Butler was charged with felony counts of resisting law enforcement and battery of a police officer. Butler entered a plea of not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday.

Last Saturday, Police responded to reports of a fight at the Linebacker bar just after midnight. When they arrived, the fight had broken up and the police retreated outside where they saw two women arguing, according to court documents. Before police could approach, Butler stepped in a allegedly pushed one of the women.

Selina Bell, the fiancée of Irish wide receiver Torii Hunter Jr., told the Tribune that Butler never physically assaulted a woman.

“I don’t know who they’re trying to reference him hitting or pushing, because he didn’t do that to anyone. But he was holding his girlfriend and protecting her,” Bell told the paper in a phone interview on Wednesday night. “He 100 percent never hit her, pulled her, pushed her, grabbed her forcefully at all.”

Police tried to detain Butler and that’s when police say Butler became violent, pushed officer Aaron Knepper, tackled him to the ground and punched him several times in the side and stomach. Knepper was taken to the hospital, treated for minor injuries and released.

Bailey disputes the officer’s story and claims her boyfriend could not have done those things while recovering from a broken foot that requires a walking boot.

“Reports say that Devin did all of these aggressive things but in reality, he was grabbed by the police from behind and never told who was grabbing him or why they were grabbing him,” Bailey wrote to the paper. “Devin felt he was doing the right thing but out of nowhere was arrested for simply stopping an argument. He felt he had no reason to be detained.

“Devin has been in a boot/cast and on crutches recovering for the past 8 weeks. He is in no condition to be lifting weights, working out, or doing any ‘tackling.’ I have not seen him run let alone walk on two feet since the day before his surgery in June. I can assure you he did NOT tackle a police officer but police officers tackled HIM.”

From the South Bend Tribune:

According to the South Bend Police Department, Butler “continued to swear at the officers and threaten them.” When other officers tried to pull Butler off Knepper, police say, Butler “grabbed onto Officer Knepper’s duty belt and physically ripped it off of him” before Knepper deployed a Taser to subdue Butler.

Bailey in her message asked: “How could the police officer proceed to taze Devin if Devin had ripped off his duty belt? The story doesn’t add up and that’s because these things didn’t happen.”

She also wrote that Knepper “was extremely violent and excessively forceful with the way he treated Devin. It was disturbing to say the least.”

Bell, who claims she was sober at the time of the altercation, also said that Butler never ripped off Knepper’s duty belt and did not resist arrest.

Butler has been indefinitely suspended from the program and is due back in court on Sept. 1.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!