Police Are Investigating An Alleged Rape That Took Place In The Women's Room At PPG Paints Arena During The Penguins Game

PuckDaddy- According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh police are investigating “a report of a woman being raped in a women’s restroom” during the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals playoff game Wednesday at PPG Paints Arena.

“We are investigating a report of a sexual assault that reportedly occurred at the Pens game last evening,” said public safety spokeswoman Sonjya Toler to the Post-Gazette. “The female victim walked in to the Zone 2 station last night at 12:01 a.m. to report the incident. Further details are not available at this time as the investigation is ongoing.”

The Penguins and AEG, the company that manages the arena, released a statement to KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh saying, “The Pittsburgh Police have informed us of the report and we are cooperating fully, because it is an ongoing police investigation we will have no further comment at this time.”

KDKA posted a quote from police spokesperson Emily Schaffer, which said, “We are investigating a sexual assault that was reported to have occurred at the Pens game last evening. Further details are not available at this time as our investigators work to determine what exactly happened.”

The Post-Gazette noted that KDKA reported the victim said the assault occurred between periods at the game and that she screamed for a half an hour but nobody helped her.

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Here's what we are going to do. We are going to assume that this rape did, indeed, take place. I know this story seems to have as many holes as the Washington Capitals postseason resume. I know it makes no sense that a woman's screaming went unacknowledged for a half hour while she was in the bathroom of a building that was holding tens of thousands of full bladders during the time frame when those bladders are most likely to be emptied. My view of ladies' rooms as social settings is probably more off-base than the criticism that Alexander Ovechkin receives every May, but I don't think I am overstepping my bounds when I say that the fairer sex is far more likely to be proactive when their urination is interrupted by desperate pleas for help than their male counterparts. Still, there doesn't seem to be any reason for her to make it up and it's universally frowned upon to question the legitimacy of a sexual assault allegation, so I am going to take this woman at her word.

Which really begs the question, is her assailant a worse hockey fan or rapist? When you remove all moral and legal context, it's really a dead heat. This dude spent upwards of hundreds of dollars to attend an NHL playoff game only to spend a majority of it hawking the women's bathroom? Just completely missed out on the most crucial contest of a series between rivals that most consider to be the two best teams remaining? The best sport to watch live during the most exciting point of the season and he was actively attempting to get arrested instead? The thought of this guy compromising the peace of mind of innocent female hockey enthusiasts by peaking over and under their stalls in hopes of carrying out non-consensual sex in thee most public of place has me absolutely infuriated. That said, the idea of someone - or anyone, really - sitting at home wishing that they could have had that ticket and been present for Marc-Andre Fleury's awe-inspiring performance certainly isn't doing anything to quell that anger. I hope this scumbag is caught and literally thrown to the wolves for committing arguably the most reprehensible of violent crimes, but - even if he wasn't a threat to public safety - I would still want his face plastered all over PPG Paints Arena so that he can't go around wasting anymore highly sought after seats.