Oscar-winning actor, Cuba Gooding Jr. has been arrested on
suspicion of forcible touching after he turned himself in.
The 51-year-old actor turned himself into authorities at
about 2 p.m on Thursday, where he was arrested for the misdemeanor charge, NYPD
Detective Martin Brown confirmed to The Washington Post.
According to police, Gooding touched a woman without her consent
on Sunday night in Midtown Manhattan. The woman filed a police report.
The 29-year-old woman told cops the actor grabbed her breast
while they were socializing around 9 p.m. at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar and
Lounge on 7th Avenue in Midtown. She also claimed that Gooding was “highly
intoxicated” and that, after the alleged grab, she got into an argument with
him that had to be broken up by security.
Gooding denied the accusations when approached by TMZ on
Wednesday.
“I trust the system and the process,” he said. “There’s a
tape that shows what really happened. That’s the most important thing.”
His arrest comes after his lawyer Mark Heller told Daily
Mail that he watched a surveillance video that shows his client's interactions
with the 29-year-old woman at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge and it shows
Gooding did nothing wrong.
According to him, the video captures the whole evening and
it shows he did nothing wrong. They can't arrest someone who did nothing
wrong.'
Heller said the video shows Gooding didn't touch the woman's
breast, hug her or do anything inappropriate. He did note that the video merely
shows the woman handing him a glass of water.
However, an NYPD source said police also watched the video
and that it supports the woman's contention.
'I saw the video and there's no doubt he touches her
breast,' the source said. 'We're not going against the victim. The video
corroborates what she said.'
'It's a quick thing,' he said of the alleged groping. 'He's
drunk, he's all over her. He puts his hands on her lap then touches her
breast.'
'You don't notice a reaction immediately,' the source noted,
but said the woman did call 911 to report the incident.
