Girlfriend of Devin Butler disputes police account of arrest

The girlfriend of Devin Butler is disputing the police account of the suspended Notre Dame cornerback's arrest Saturday, saying he was "abused and wrongly arrested."

Haleigh Bailey told the South Bend Tribune on Thursday that she was at the South Bend bar where Butler allegedly tackled a police officer and punched him during an altercation.

"I was there that entire night," Bailey wrote in a message to the Tribune. "Reports say that everyone left the scene but I was still there and saw everything officers did to Devin.

"He was abused, and wrongly arrested. He never tackled an officer and he never intentionally hurt anyone. He had no reason to be tazed because he was never resisting arrest, and he was already on the ground complying when they tazed him."

Butler faces felony counts of resisting law enforcement and battery against a public safety official. A not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf Wednesday, and an initial hearing is set for Sept. 1.

Coach Brian Kelly indefinitely suspended Butler from the Fighting Irish. Butler was already slated to be out until October with a broken foot.

In her comments to the Tribune, Bailey highlighted Butler's broken foot as a reason he would have been unable to tackle Officer Aaron Knepper, who was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

"Reports say that Devin did all of these aggressive things but in reality, he was grabbed by the police from behind and never told who was grabbing him or why they were grabbing him," Bailey wrote. "Devin felt he was doing the right thing but out of nowhere was arrested for simply stopping an argument. He felt he had no reason to be detained."

Police reported that Butler shoved a woman during a fight between two women outside the bar. A fiancée of another Notre Dame player told the Tribune that was incorrect as well.

"I don't know who they're trying to reference him hitting or pushing, because he didn't do that to anyone," said Selina Bell, who is engaged to wide receiver Torii Hunter Jr."But he was holding his girlfriend and protecting her. He 100 percent never hit her, pulled her, pushed her, grabbed her forcefully at all."

Butler's attorney Jeff Kimmell told the Tribune in an email that "several witnesses to the incident claim that officer Knepper's account of the events is extraordinarily inaccurate. Currently, I have a private investigator seeking out any existing video coverage of what actually happened."

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.