Roethlisberger left Georgia Friday, GBI officials say

Milledgeville – Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger left Georgia Friday, but state investigators say they expect to interview him in a couple of days.

Roethlisberger is being investigated in the alleged sexual assault of a college student at a nightclub in Milledgeville, Tom Davis, special agent in charge of the GBI's regional office in Milledgeville told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Saturday.

The quarterback has spoken with Milledgeville police, said his agent who, in a statement, denies the charges leveled against his client.

An attorney for Roethlisberger said he would give the GBI the names of all of the people who were with the football player when the incident is said to have happened, Davis said.

The attorney also told the GBI that he would try and aid the agency with setting up those interviews, Davis said.

"We have not questioned him at all, but we are going to at some point over the next couple of days," Davis said.

This small college town is abuzz that Roethlisberger is a suspect in a sexual assault of a college student at a nightclub here.

Milledgeville police say the NFL superstar and his 20-year-old accuser visited several bars late Thursday night before the alleged attack.

The unidentified woman claims she was "sexually assaulted or sexually manipulated" by a man, police said. The woman, treated and released from Oconee Regional Medical Center, described her attacker as 6-foot-5, and 241 pounds, though she did not name Roethlisberger, who just turned 28, as the perpetrator.

"The woman approached one of our officers in the downtown area near Capital City saying she'd been sexually assaulted," by the suspect described in the police report, Milledgeville Police spokesman David McNeely told the AJC.

Police said the incident took place between 11 p.m. Thursday and 2:30 a.m. at the Capital City nightclub near downtown Milledgeville and the GCSU campus.

"He's been identified as being at the scene," Milledgeville police Deputy Chief Richard Malone said of Roethlisberger.

Malone indicated to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the case is very much active. Investigators are collecting additional evidence, and more than a dozen investigators have been involved in the case. Investigators interviewed between seven and nine people, including the woman, Roethlisberger and everyone in their parties, the Post-Gazette said.

Police said the accuser is a student at the school.

A woman who asked not to be named said she saw Roethlisberger and the young woman at two bars -- The Velvet Elvis and The Brick. The girl was sitting near him and they seemed to be getting along, she said.

She said she did not see him do anything inappropriate to the girl, and that other girls were also around him.

College students who gathered Friday night at the busy club area in town talked incessantly about the incident. They said that at first they could not believe that the superstar was in their town. They said he was treated like the biggest man on campus.

Then, when they heard what police were saying, they were shocked over the allegations.

The students traded rumors in the cold outside the Capital City nightclub at 119 South Wayne Street, where police say the alleged incident occurred. Some said they met the football player at the club. Some said they knew the accuser. Their conversations were filled with speculation. Some took sides, blaming him or her.

“For a little Georgia town, something like this is big,” said Brandon Priest, 21, of Loganville.

Students said the superstar was approached in the clubs by many people who wanted to get a photo with him or receive a hug. He had a handful of large men with him, who sometimes blocked people from coming close, they said.

“Everybody wanted to talk to him,” said Charles Arp, 19, who is studying environmental sciences at GCSU. “I tried to talk to him but his bodyguard just pushed me away.”

Others said Roethlisberger was friendly and well-behaved, signing autographs, standing for photos and buying drinks for people.

“I went up and talked to him. He was real cool,” said Hayden Lewis, a student at the nearby Georgia Military College.

Several students who said they know the accuser said she is a good person. Several said that Facebook sites and texting have lit up with news of the allegation. They said she has taken down her Facebook page.

“She’s a fun, outgoing sweet person,” said GCSU student Beckett Johnson, 21.

According to various media outlets, Roethlisberger has a winter home in Reynolds Plantation, a resort community on Lake Oconee in Greensboro.