 Fallen ... Wayne Carey is set to be charged with assaulting police officers during an arrest in Melbourne in January, police said today / Image supplied |
FORMER AFL star Wayne Carey is set to be charged with assaulting police officers during an arrest in Melbourne in January, police say.
Victorian police chief commissioner Christine Nixon said investigators believed there was sufficient evidence to charge the disgraced former player, despite recent reports suggesting otherwise.
Carey, 36, was arrested on January 27 for lashing out at police during a domestic dispute at his Port Melbourne penthouse, but no charges were laid.
"I have been advised by the inspector (Graeme Arthur) and superintendent (Paul Sheridan) involved in the case who have both read the brief and believe there`s sufficient evidence to proceed,`` Ms Nixon said.
"It is up to the officers who are closest to the information of the case and their advice to me is they believe there`s sufficient evidence to take action.
"No action has been taken yet.``
Carey had to be subdued with capsicum spray by police, with leaked security footage from his Rouse St apartment block showing him handcuffed before being taken to the St Kilda Road police station.
Carey had called police to say he wanted a woman removed from his apartment, and was with his girlfriend Kate Neilson and her friend Sabella Sugar at the time.
Ms Nixon defended her officers over why a decision on charging the former North Melbourne premiership captain had yet to be made, two months after the incident.
"We do take time actually when making decisions about whether to take action against someone,`` she said.
"We may pull someone into custody for some offences, minor ones, but generally it takes a period of time to make a decision ... it depends on what the facts of the case were.``
Carey is already facing criminal charges for assaulting police in the US state of Florida, after a wine glass was smashed in his girlfriend`s face last October.
He will appear in court in Miami next month on two felony charges of aggravated battery of a police officer and a charge of resisting arrest with violence.
If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in an American jail. The revelations about Carey`s behaviour have resulted in him losing various lucrative jobs in the football media.
He has since admitted in an interview with women`s magazine New Idea that he and Ms Nielson both have a cocaine problem.
His first television interview since the January incident will air on the ABC`s Enough Rope next Monday.
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