Australian Football Player Arrested For Allegedly Groping Woman, Attacking Man In NYC

An Australian rules football player was arrested for allegedly groping a woman and assaulting the woman’s friend at a nightclub atop a hotel in New York City Saturday, police said.

Jordan De Goey, a 25-year-old forward for Collingwood AFL in Melbourne, was partying at the PHD Rooftop Lounge at the Dream Hotel in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan at around 2:20 a.m. Saturday when he and his friend, Luke Dyson, approached a woman on the dance floor, New York Daily News reported, citing police.

De Goey and the 28-year-old tattoo artist allegedly groped the unnamed 35-year-old woman as they began dancing with her, according to the New York Post.

The groping upset the woman’s 37-year-old male friend, who then tried to push away Dyson and De Goey, who is 6-foot-3 and weighs 194 pounds, police said.

De Goey and Dyson allegedly hit the man in the face with a bottle before punching and kicking him, the New York City Police Department said.

The athlete and his friend returned to the bar after allegedly assaulting the woman's male friend. The woman immediately called 911, and responding officers arrested De Goey and Dyson.

The two men, who were staying at the Dream Hotel, were booked on forcible touching and assault charges, police said.

The victims, who were also staying at the hotel, were visiting from Cambridge, Massachusetts. They declined medical treatment.

De Goey pleaded not guilty to the charges when he appeared in court Sunday after he spent a night in a Manhattan jail cell. He has been released from police custody but is scheduled to appear in court again on Dec. 8, Fox Sports Australia reported.

In 2018, De Goey was accused of indecent assault in Melbourne, Australia, after a woman claimed that he and his friend sexually assaulted her in 2015. That charge was withdrawn in August, and police were ordered to pay De Goey’s legal fees, Melbourne newspaper The Age reported.

De Goey has since been suspended by his team and the Australian Football League (AFL).

“Collingwood today stood Jordan De Goey down from its AFL program indefinitely. The club will continue to pay De Goey under the terms of his contract until such time as an outcome to proceedings against him in the United States is reached or a more complete account of events is established,” his team said in a statement obtained by Fox Sports Sunday.

Collingwood continued, “In the interim, De Goey will not be permitted to train or play with Collingwood or make use of club resources, staff or facilities. Collingwood is deeply disappointed by reports and events of the last 48 hours involving De Goey in the U.S. Given the circumstances, the club believes it is appropriate to remove him from the AFL program.”

In its own statement, the AFL backed Collingwood’s decision to stand down De Goey following his arrest.