Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer investigated in alleged assault
MIDTOWN, Manhattan -- Law enforcement officials are currently investigating allegations that former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was involved in an alleged assault Saturday at the Plaza Hotel in Midtown, New York.
Police say the case involves Spitzer and a 25-year-old woman. A law enforcement official briefed on the case says the woman claims that Spitzer choked her. The two have had a romantic relationship for almost two years, and appears the spat may have been sparked when the woman tried to break up with him.
ABC11's sister-station WABC caught up with a detective from the NYPD Crime Scene Unit heading into the Plaza Hotel on Sunday night, with a CSU van parked across the street.
Sources say the woman sustained no major injuries from the incident, but she did cut her arm as she left the hotel. The woman initially identified Spitzer as her assailant to officers, and then backed off, having second thoughts about pressing charges and has not been cooperative in the investigation.
At Spitzer's 5th Avenue Apartment, WABC's cameras were turned away while trying to reach the former governor for comment. Spitzer's spokesperson released a statement saying, "there is no truth to the allegation."
It was in 2008, when Spitzer resigned from office over a hooker scandal, saying afterwards, "the remorse I feel will always be with me."
As for the cut the woman suffered when she was leaving the hotel, sources say it was not serious, and she was treated at a hospital and released.
The woman was reportedly on her way out of New York City Sunday night.
