Prosecutors: Darren Sharper drugged, raped two women

• Los Angeles authorities want Sharper%27s bail raised from %24200%2C000 to %2410 million
• Former Pro Bowl defensive back faces 7 felony charges in California
• Authorities say Sharper also faces sex assault allegations in Louisiana%2C Arizona and Nevada

FEB. 14, 2014 -- Former NFL player Darren Sharper has been charged with drugging and raping two women in California and also is suspected of doing the same to other women in Arizona, Nevada and Louisiana, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.

Sharper, once a star safety with the New Orleans Saints, is suspected of raping seven women in four states, all after offering them drinks laced with drugs, according to a court document submitted by a Los Angeles police officer investigating the case. The detective stated he suspected that Sharper also drugged additional people who accompanied these women, increasing the total suspected druggings to 11 cases combined since September.

So far he faces criminal charges only in Los Angeles — two counts of rape by use of drugs, four counts of furnishing illegal drugs and one count of illegal morphine possession, all felonies. The drug allegedly involved in the rape cases was zolpidem, a sedative allegedly delivered in drinks in separate incidents on Oct. 30 and Jan. 14. The other cases in Las Vegas, New Orleans and Tempe remain under investigation.

"We look forward to the true facts being revealed in this case," Sharper's attorney Blair Berk said. "And we are hopeful Mr. Sharper will be fully exonerated before this case is concluded."

Sharper, 38, was arrested by Los Angeles police on Jan. 17 and released on $200,000 bond. If convicted, he faces more than 30 years in state prison.

The prosecutor wants to raise his bail to $10 million because of the cases in other states.

His arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 20.

The prosecutor alleges that Sharper met two women at a nightclub in West Hollywood on Oct. 30 and invited them to another party. On the way, Sharper invited them up to his hotel room and gave each woman a drink he described as "Coffee Petron," likely a reference to Patrón, a brand of tequila. Each woman passed out.

One of the women "woke up naked hours later with Sharper sexually assaulting her," the district attorney said in a statement. "The second woman allegedly woke up and interrupted his actions," according to the district attorney.

On Jan. 14, Sharper met two other women at the same West Hollywood nightclub and invited them to a party. He then invited them up to his room again and offered them a shot. Both passed out, and when they woke up hours later on Jan. 15, one woman believed she had been sexually assaulted, according to the district attorney. Both left the hotel and sought medical treatment.

To persuade the judge to increase Sharper's bail, the district attorney submitted a declaration from Los Angeles police Det. John Macchiarella, who is investigating the case. In his declaration, he detailed police reports about Sharper in other states:

--On Sept. 22, a woman met Sharper at an event for Saints players and then accompanied him to a bar, where Sharper provided her with a beverage. The woman's next memory is waking up at 10 a.m. the next day with Sharper on top of her in a sexual assault. The New Orleans police received a DNA analysis that showed Sharper's DNA was present on the swab taken from the woman.

--On Jan. 15, a day after one of the alleged incidents in Los Angeles, Sharper met two women and a man at a Las Vegas club. Sharper invited them to a party at his hotel room and gave them all shots, according to the report. All three then "blacked out." One woman woke up next to Sharper in bed and proceeded to use the restroom, where she saw injuries on her face for which she could not account. Sharper asked her how she was feeling and then offered another beverage to help her feel better.

"The next thing she remembered was Defendant Sharper sexually assaulting her," the report states.

The other woman woke up alone on the couch in the hotel room and "immediately felt as though she had been sexually assaulted."

The man who accompanied the two women said his next memory after taking the shot provided by Sharper was sitting alone at the bar inside the hotel. He had no memory of how he arrived there, the report states.

--On Nov. 20, two women went with Sharper to a nightclub in Scottsdale, Ariz., and then returned to the women's apartment. Sharper provided shots. One woman woke up the next morning naked from the waist down with no memory of how her clothing was removed. A third woman who lived at the apartment woke up to see Sharper on top of a second woman with his buttocks exposed moving in a thrusting motion. Two of the women underwent sexual assault examinations. Subsequent testing by the crime lab revealed the presence of zolpidem.

Sharper spent 14 years in the NFL. He played for three teams, the Green Bay Packers, the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints. He was a five-time Pro-Bowl selection and was on the Saints' Super Bowl championship team in 2009. Following his second year with the Saints in 2010, Sharper announced his retirement.

Sharper, who lives in Miami, Fla., had been working as a consultant for the NFL Network, which suspended him indefinitely without pay after his arrest.

Follow Brent Schrotenboer on Twitter @Schrotenboer. Mike Perlstein reports for WWL-TV in New Orleans.