ootball Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor was arrested in a Rockland hotel overnight and charged with raping a 15-year-old girl, who apparently was a runaway from New York City controlled by a pimp, authorities said this morning.
The 51-year-old former New York Giants linebacker was taken into custody by Ramapo police at the Holiday Inn off Airmont Road, Ramapo Police Detective Lt. Brad Weidel said
Taylor was being held in the town police lockup pending arraignment in Ramapo Justice Court this afternoon. He is being charged with third-degree rape, a charge that involves having intercourse with a minor.
The victim was reportedly beaten during the attack.
Taylor, a football icon and one of the NFL's greatest defensive players, has a history of drug abuse and other run-ins with the law. He has tested positive for cocaine several times during his NFL career and has been arrested for buying cocaine from undercover police officers.
Taylor, who has a home in New Jersey, told police he was a resident of Pembroke Pines, Fla. He has frequently played golf in Rockland.
Ramapo police were planning a news conference later this afternoon to provide more details in the case.
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The victim apparently was a runaway from the Bronx who was brought by a pimp to the Holiday Inn where Taylor was staying, Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence said this morning.
The girl got beaten up at the hotel, authorities said, and later needed treatment at a hospital.
"She was a runaway since March and there was a pimp involved," St. Lawrence said. "She got punched in the face. We're not sure who did it."
The police got involved after the girl texted her uncle as the pimp drove her down to the Bronx, St. Lawrence said. The uncle called the New York City Police Department and officers met the pimp's car in the city, St. Lawrence said.
The police took statements from the girl, arrested the pimp and called the Ramapo Police Department, who sent officers to the hotel to investigate.
Police secured the scene in the hotel room, gathered evidence and sent detectives to New York City as part of the investigation.