Tampa- A pair of Carolina Panthers cheerleaders were arrested early Sunday morning after allegedly having sex in the bathroom of a Tampa nightclub and getting into a fight with other patrons, according to published reports.Advertisement Angela Ellen Keathley, 26, was charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer, according to a police report acquired by the Tampa Tribune and Charlotte Observer. The second cheerleader, who gave police the driver's license of another cheerleader not present for the incident, was charged with battery.
The incident began at 2:10 a.m., according to the reports. Keathley and the second woman were having sex in a stall inside the bathroom at Banana Joe's, a nightclub in the Channelside district near downtown Tampa, police said. When the pair emerged from the stall, other women who had been waiting to use the bathroom got into an argument with the cheerleaders.
The police report states that Keathley's companion, identified as Renee Thomas by WTSP-TV, Tampa's CBS affiliate, punched one of the women, identified as Melissa Holden by the Tribune, waiting to use the bathroom, giving her a black eye. Police were called while all three women were escorted from the club.
Keathley was allegedly so intoxicated she could barely stand and would not cooperate with police. The report states she began yelling profanities before pulling away while the officer cuffed her.
Keathley and Thomas were held overnight and released on bond put up by other Panthers cheerleaders late Sunday morning.
A Panthers spokesman said the team was aware of the incident, but would not have any comment. Earlier story - Two Carolina Panthers cheerleaders were arrested after a bar dispute that broke out early Sunday after patrons complained the women were having sex in a bathroom stall, a police arrest report said.
Police reports named the women, but The Tampa Tribune reported officials were checking into whether one of them gave a false identification. One woman was charged with battery, and the other with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Both women were released on bond later Sunday
The women were locked in a stall at about 2:10 a.m. Sunday when other patrons got angry they were taking so long in the bathroom, the police report said. The women left the stall, and one began arguing with another patron of Banana Joe's, eventually hitting that patron in the face with a closed fist, police said.
The incident happened 11 hours before the kickoff of the Panthers' NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The cheerleaders traveled to Tampa on their own because members of the team's Top Cats squad are on the sidelines only at home games.
Panthers officials told The Charlotte Observer at Sunday's game that they were aware of the reported incident, but declined further comment.
