Darren Sharper charged with drugging, raping 2 women

The retired All-Pro has been charged in two separate rape cases in Los Angeles and is under investigation for three others throughout the country.

By Jeff Gray@Jeff_GraySBN Feb 14, 2014, 1:09pm EST

Former New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers safety Darren Sharper has been charged with drugging and raping two women in Los Angeles, according to The Times-Picayune.

The five-time Pro Bowler is formally charged with two counts of rape by use of drugs, four counts of furnishing a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance, all of which are felonies.

He is also under investigation for separate rape charges in Louisiana, Arizona and Nevada.

Both of the Los Angeles cases, which occurred three months apart in late 2013 and early this year, follow a disturbingly similar pattern. Sharper is believed to have invited the women into his hotel room, given them shots of alcohol drugged with Ambien and morphine, and sexually assaulted them once they passed out.

Prosecutors say that the first incident occurred on Oct. 30, 2013 after Sharper met a pair of women at a West Hollywood nightclub. After inviting them to join him at another club, he reportedly told them he had to stop at his hotel and invited them up to his room. Investigators allege he then offered both women a shot, and they both passed out soon afterward.

One of the women told prosecutors she later woke up naked with Sharper in the process of sexually assaulting her.

The second incident occurred on Jan. 14 after he met another pair of women at the same West Hollywood club. As before, Sharper is believed to have invited them to another party, stopped by his hotel and invited them up, then drugged them with shots. One of the women told investigators she believed she was raped while she was passed out.

Sharper won a Super Bowl with the Saints and retired following the 2010 season.