Already facing rape charges, Washington RB Tybo Rogers charged with assault in alleged road rage incident
Washington running back Tybo Rogers is now facing fourth-degree assault charges in addition to two rape charges.
Rogers, who pleaded not guilty to the felony rape charges on April 18, has been charged with assault along with Washington defensive back Diesel Gordon for an alleged road rage incident in March. Per KOMO News, a man riding his bike home from work was allegedly assaulted by the two players after they were behind him in a car. Rogers has also been charged with destruction of property.
The men yelled at the victim to get out of the street, cursing at him and flipping him off, police reports stated. The victim said the car also tried to run him over. At one point, the bicyclist spat at the driver of the car.
According to the police report, the victim went to a nearby stairwell and tried to hide, but the two suspects found him. The victim told police "the suspects hit him and pushed him down damaging his bicycle before leaving." The incident was also captured on nearby surveillance cameras and two witnesses saw part of the incident. The footage shows the suspects spitting on the victim multiple times while calling him slurs.
Washington said in a statement that it “was aware that these serious charges — which are related to an incident previously reported in the media — were pending and have been cooperating with police since becoming aware of the investigation. Both students were suspended from all football team activities on April 5, and remain suspended indefinitely.”
On April 18, Rogers entered his not guilty plea regarding two alleged sexual assaults during the 2023 football season. Rogers is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in October and a different woman in November.
During the hearing, one of Rogers’ alleged victims requested a protection order. She stated that he was “dangerous” and “that night he just immediately started acting aggressively with me. He didn’t even give me the opportunity to consent. He just wanted to aggressively hurt me.”
Rogers met the first alleged victim on Tinder in October and allegedly met the second victim at a fraternity party before they matched on Tinder and met up. That encounter is when Rogers allegedly raped her.
Rogers was briefly suspended from the football team in November before rejoining the team in December as Washington prepped for the College Football Playoff. He was not a part of the team’s roster for the Pac-12 title game.
In documents released this week related to Rogers' rape charges, Seattle police believe Washington's coaching staff appeared to be aware of at least one of the sexual assault allegations against him. The first woman reported her alleged rape to Washington's Title IX office in late November.
Other text messages show a coach received contact information for criminal defense and civil rights attorney James Bible with a comment to “pass this information on to Tybo.”
"The timeline of (victim's initials) social media posts as well as Rogers' suspension led me to believe there is a connection between his suspension and her disclosure of the assault, especially after the comments made by the coaching staff in the media release," wrote one of the investigating officers in the probable cause determination.
In a statement issued after Rogers' arrest on the rape charges, former Washington and current Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said that he couldn’t directly comment about Rogers but that he “always have and always will follow established institutional policies and procedures to ensure prompt reporting and proper handling of allegations by the appropriate authorities.”
Rogers appeared in 12 games for the Huskies and rushed 44 times for 184 yards. He totaled seven carries and two catches in Washington’s two College Football Playoff games.
