Girlfriend disputes charges, says police abused Notre Dame's Devin Butler

The girlfriend of arrested Notre Dame DB Devin Butler disputes the police's accounts of his arrest

Defensive back Devin Butler was one of six Notre Dame football players arrested last Friday night in two separate incidents. He was later indefinitely suspended by coach Brian Kelly, and on Tuesday, he was charged with resisting law enforcement and battery against a public safety official.

Butler's girlfriend and Torii Hunter Jr.'s fiancee, who were both at the bar where Butler was arrested, dispute the police's claims, according to The South Bend Tribune.

"I was there that entire night," Haleigh Bailey, Butler's girlfriend, wrote 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 tased because he was never resisting arrest, and he was already on the ground complying when they tased him."

According to police, Butler was arrested after shoving a woman in the head and then resisted arrest, including picking up and tackling an officer. Bell disputed Butler's involvement in pushing a woman.

"I don't know who they're trying to reference him hitting or pushing, because he didn't do that to anyone. But he was holding his girlfriend and protecting her," Selina Bell, Hunter's fiancee, told The Tribune. "He 100 percent never hit her, pulled her, pushed her, grabbed her forcefully at all."

The two also disputed the claims that Butler tackled an officer, noting that Butler, who broke his foot in June, is still in a walking boot and was not capable of picking up someone to slam them. Bell also claimed the same thing as Bailey that Butler was on the ground when he was tased, yelling that he couldn't breathe.

"He couldn't breathe, and I could hear him saying that," said Bell. "He was saying, 'I can't breathe! I can't breathe!' He was screaming that. That's when I was getting really nervous. I don't know why they felt the need to tase him. There were four cops on him. He had the broken foot. His face was in the cement."

Butler plead not guilty to the two charges against him on Wednesday. He will be back in court for an initial hearing on Sept. 1.