By Tom Nicholson
An Astoria woman was charged by police in Pittsburgh last week with filing a false complaint against three St. John’s University basketball players she said raped her.
Sherri Ann Urbanek-Bach, whose address was given by police as 4107 28th Ave., faces charges of fictitious reports and extortion after she admitted to fabricating the rape accusations, saying she made up the story when the men refused to pay her after having sex with her in a Pittsburgh hotel early last Thursday, police said.
Urbanek-Bach, a married airline flight attendant who police said lived in Queens last year for several months, was released from police custody Friday after posting $20,000 bond. A spokesman for Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. said Monday Urbanek-Bach’s next court date had not been set.
Police said Urbanek-Bach admitted to them Friday that she lied about being raped by the basketball players after one of the accused men, Elijah Ingram, revealed he had a video recording he took with his cell phone that showed Urbanek-Bach threatening to go to authorities and claim she was raped when the men refused her demands for money.
Police decided to charge Urbanek-Bach after viewing the recording.
Senior Grady Reynolds was expelled, Elijah Ingram withdrew from the university and Abe Keita was suspended for one year from St. John’s University following the incident for conduct “inconsistent with the university mission and values,” according to Jody Fisher, director of media relations at SJU.
In an interview following her release from police custody last week, Urbanek-Bach said about the incident in the hotel room, “I was drinking to the point where my judgment went out the window,” according to the New York Post.
Urbanek-Bach told the Post she was “going home to be with (my husband) and my mom. I have to explain my side of the story and what happened. I’m afraid my family is never going to look at me the same again.”
Reach reporter Tom Nicholson by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by calling 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
