MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A former West Virginia University football player is set to stand trial on a second degree sexual assault charge, in Monongalia County Circuit Court.
Morgantown Police filed a criminal complaint against Vincent “Dave” Okoli, 19 of Gaithersburg, Md., in April 2021, following a report of a sexual assault in February 2021.
The alleged victim told police that she drove Okoli to an ATM on High Street, so that he could get cash to pay her for styling his hair. While in her car, Okoli tried several times to kiss her, but she told him that she had a boyfriend and did not want him to kiss her, she told investigators. Police obtained security camera footage, from a nearby business, that confirmed the woman’s account and showed Okoli “throwing his fists into his lap in frustration, shaking the car,” according to court documents.
After the woman dropped Okoli off at his apartment, he called her back, telling her that his hair hurt and he needed her to fix it, the court documents detailed. Okoli picked the woman up and took her back to his apartment, where she fixed his hair.
Okoli then touched her inappropriately, grabbed her, pushed her onto his bed and got on top of her, officers allege. When he tried to kiss her, she slapped him in the face, causing Okoli to get mad and hit her, while asking “who she thought she was,” according to his criminal complaint.
The woman tried to get away, she said, but Okoli forced her back onto the bed, where he sexually assaulted her, the criminal complaint explained.
After the alleged assault, the woman asked Okoli if she could leave. He became angry, she said, but agreed to take her home, driving at a high rate of speed, in and out of the drop-off area, in front of the woman’s residence hall. Police were able to confirm the woman’s account through security cameras at the residence hall.
Okoli is set to stand trial on February 8, 2022. He was indicted by a Monongalia County grand jury in September 2021 and pleaded not guilty at his arraignment, according to court officials.
Okoli was booked into the North Central Regional Jail on January 11, 2022, where he remains.
Okoli was a freshman defensive back for the Mountaineer football team on the 2020 roster, but did not see game action. Okoli entered the NCAA’s transfer portal in March 2021.
