Lawrence Taylor arrested in connection with rape, beating of girl

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Lawrence Taylor, the NFL Hall of Famer known in celeb circles for his ‘Dancing With the Stars’ stint, was arrested overnight in connection with the alleged rape and beating of a 15-year-old runaway just outside of New York, police said Thursday morning.

The Journal News in Hudson Valley, N.Y., reports that the former linebacker was being held in the Ramapo, N.Y., lockup on suspicion of third-degree rape. An arraignment hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, and police plan to hold a news conference in connection with the case that afternoon as well. The charge of third-degree rape involves having sex with a minor.

Taylor was taken into custody at a Holiday Inn in Rockland, N.Y. The victim ‘was a runaway since March, and there was a pimp involved,’ a Ramapo Police Department supervisor told the Journal News, which has more details about the arrest. ‘She got punched in the face. We’re not sure who did it.’

For the man known as LT, the arrest comes as a body blow to an image that until recent years was about as battered as the brain of family man Luther ‘Shark’ Lavay, Taylor’s character in Oliver Stone‘s ‘Any Given Sunday.’

-- Christie D’Zurilla