Scammer
Banned
Garrett Wittels plays for the Florida International University baseball team.
A 20-year-old Florida International University baseball star was charged last week with the rape of two females in Nassau, police said Monday.
The athlete, Garrett Wittels, has been released on $10,000 bail, Bahamas Police Department Press Officer Sgt. Chrislyn Skippings told CNN.
"We are aware of the case and we are providing all appropriate consular assistance," said a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman in Washington. "We are providing all appropriate consular assistance and, due to privacy concerns, we are unable to share specific information about this case."
The 6-foot, 1-inch, 198-pound infielder finished the 2010 season on a 56-game hitting streak, the second-longest in NCAA Division 1 baseball history, according to FIU's website.
Calls to Wittels' family, FIU and the NCAA were not immediately returned.
The junior shortstop was with four friends from Miami, Florida, when the incident allegedly occurred, said Skippings, who added that all five were charged.
But the mother of one of the friends said only three of the five were charged, and that all five had returned to Miami.
"I really think all of them are innocent," said Dalilah Tromberg, mother of Steven Tromberg, in a telephone interview. "These kids are going to prove, at the end, that they are innocent. The truth will prevail."
She added that her son and another of the group were not charged. "They are all wonderful boys from great families and I've known them for many years, most of them."
Tromberg said she could not add more. "I've been told not to discuss," she said.
Wittels was named this month to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America Preseason All-America Team.
His streak, which will carry into the 2011 season, puts him two games behind Robin Ventura's 1987 record of hitting in 58 straight games.
According to FIU's website, Wittels is slated to start on Feb. 18, when FIU hosts Southeastern Louisiana.
