Posted on 10/12/2005 5:55:27 AM PDT by Rakkasan1
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Department is investigating allegations of criminal sexual conduct by Minnesota Vikings players after a boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka turned into an out-of-control party that included lap dances and sexual acts, an attorney for the charter boat company said Tuesday.
Stephen Doyle, a lawyer representing the owners of Al and Alma's, a company that charters cruises on the lake, said cornerback Fred Smoot and another Vikings player, whom he declined to name, reserved a charter for a night-time excursion Thursday.
"From our end, I don't know the name of the other primary person, but we turned over to the police today documents that show signatures or credit cards or whatever was associated with closing this deal," Doyle said.
A woman called Mound police Thursday night to report "possible prostitution, drugs and live sex acts" on the two boats. According to the police report, the woman said she and her brother's girlfriend served as hostesses on the boats.
Doyle said he didn't learn details of what allegedly happened until he met with six of the eight crewmembers Tuesday.
Doyle said about 90 people were on the two boats. According to a Vikings player who spoke on the condition of anonymity, about 15 Vikings players were on a charter as part of what he described as a "team event." The player said he was unaware of any sexual acts and that the cruise lasted less than 90 minutes. Doyle said he believed it to be a tradition for Vikings rookies and first-year players to take their teammates out.
Upon returning to the dock, the player said, there were no police officers present and he did not know of any problems on the boats.
Contacted Tuesday afternoon, Smoot said the allegations are exaggerated.
"It's slanderous," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
NFL ping...
Hey, it was a private party on chartered boats. As long as all of the participants were willing adults
Vikings Cruise was allegedly a sex party (EXCERPTED!)
The party was initially designed to fulfill what is an annual obligation by a first-year player to throw a social event for any players and any friends and family members who want to attend, Doyle said. The cruise was to end at midnight.
Doyle declined to identify any of the players who boarded the boats.
Almost immediately after boarding, crew members noticed partially disrobed women walking around, he said. One employee opened a galley and three nude women popped out, he said.
Then the crew -- about five people on each boat -- saw women giving lap dances for money.
"Players were approaching the wait staff telling them they would be tipped if they danced," Doyle said.
The players started to become more aggressive, wanting to pour their own drinks and screaming at the bartenders, he said. Naked woman walked around without hesitation. They performed oral sex in the open, he said. Sex toys were strewn about, he said.
At some point, the yacht captains called each other to see whether similar activity was happening on both vessels. It was, Doyle said, recalling what he called eye-popping conversations he had with crew members.
"They [the captains] had to step around people who were having sex on the floor," he said. "They were thinking it couldn't be safe out in the middle of the lake. It was a petrifying scene."
A woman working as a hostess on one of the boats called Mound police about 7:30 that night to report possible prostitution, drugs and sex acts, according to police.
The boats had been cruising only for 40 minutes when the supervisors on shore were told of the party and ordered the captains to return.
When they got to shore, some women asked if they had stopped to switch boats, Doyle said. The guests departed in their limos without incident.
Way I see it,if no one was hurt or injured and everyone had a good time on a boat in the middle of a lake with no one around to see, whats the big deal?
a thread that mentions lap dances and no pics? come on, someone had to be there with a digital camera...I need the pics for my analysis!
IMHO, if they were on my boat acting like asses, their options would be get off my boat willingly or get off my boat at the end of my shotgun.
(and it's not all about money-Tiger Woods has more money and class than all 15 put together.)
I don't recall Wild or even the T-Wolves players being on the police blotters on a weekly basis. why would anyone pay money and then vote to tax themselves more to subsidize these chimps behavior?
I know if i had been a girl working on the boat I would have felt real uncomfortable and scared to death. These football players and athletes go wild and act like there is nothing they can't do or get away with. The way they treat women disgust me!
And it wasn't 45 minutes into the cruise that the boats returned to dock! Didn't take them long to act so poorly.
The allegations have been seriously cleaned up for TV, radio, print.
Smoot is full of it.
Gee, I don't know. You sign a contract for an event that you tell the owners of the establishment it will include players, wives, and girlfriends.
They expected that's what would happen.
What you're hearing isn't even half of it.
The participants might have been willing but what about the people working on the boats?
I agree. If you rent a boat or a house or hotel room, whatever, and you tell the person leasing you the venue that this is what's going to happen and they're ok with it then fine.
But when you sign a contract and say it's a party for players, wives, and girlfriends and 18-23 year olds get assigned to work the cruise and then have to deal with this it's not quite the same thing.
It's not as if they could walk away in the middle of the lake...
I'm all for building the Twins a stadium and the Wild have made a huge difference in downtown St. Paul.
What people can't seen to get their arms around is that the Metrodome was funded with revenue bonds. The revenue from the stadium is what backed the repayment of the bonds to the lenders.
I'm all for funding a stadium that way again. The State gets a better rate than the Twins can get and taxpayers from MN can buy tax-free MN muni bonds. The revenue generated pays back the principle and interest.
Did the taxpayers fund the roads, etc. Sure. I'm ok with that too. I think that building roads is a legitimate use of tax money myself.
...But after this unless they can get rid of Tice and do something about the Vikings and their behavior issues, I say fire them all before we talk a Vikings stadium!
15 players?
That's what you're hearing.
Believe me, if you're at a bachelor's party you know what to expect. When you go to work to serve drinks/food on a boat you don't expect this.
The version that's fit for print, TV, radio isn't even close to the reality of what happened on those boats.
I admit I'm too close to this particular situation to be very objective but I don't know too many jobs where you are blocked into an area behind the bar by five 200-300 pound football players while they put a "stripper" up ON the bar and proceed to perform oral sex on her in front of you and you can't get past them to remove yourself from the situation.
As a 20 year old young woman who only expected to serve drinks and food I'd say that would be just a bit intimidating and frightening.
Used condoms laying all over the floor after they left was the easy part of the night...
You're so right. These were not booked as sex cruises and they never would have been booked had that been the case.
And I know how I'd feel if it was my 20 year old daughter working on the boat...
-Eric
The offended workers may well have grounds for a civil suit against their employer.
Jim Souhan had a great line about this today in this morning's Red-Star Tribune. He said, "Last week, we missed only Randy Moss' talent. Today, we miss him as a role model."
As a lifelong Viking fan, I'm absolutely embarrassed. No question about it.
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