The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office responded to a graphic video showing rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, clad only in a towel, chase down his then girlfriend in 2016 and savagely beat her in a hotel hallway, saying it cannot file charges because the statute of limitations for assault has passed.
In California, the statute of limitations for simple assault is one year and for aggravated assault, three years. Aggravated assault would include use of a deadly weapon, use of a firearm, assault producing great bodily injury, or assault on a police officer.
The incident took place beyond the statute of limitations in either case.
CNN obtained the video, which it said matches allegations made in an “amicably” settled lawsuit filed by Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura” against Combs late last year. The two settled the lawsuit the day after it was filed, as CrimeOnline reported.
The video shows Combs chase Ventura down the hotel hallway, holding the towel around his waist with one hand. When he reaches her at a bank of elevators, he flings her to the floor and kicks her. Then he picks up her belongings and kicks Ventura again before dragging her down the hallway by her sweatshirt.
Ventura gets up from the floor and gathers her belongings, including her phone, before Combs returns and shoves her. Then he sits on a chair and throws an something from a table at Ventura.
“We are aware of the video that has been circulating online allegedly depicting Sean Combs assaulting a young woman in Los Angeles,” the district attorney’s office said on Instagram on Friday. “We find the images extremely disturbing and difficult to watch. If the conduct depicted occurred in 2016, unfortunately we would be unable to charge as the conduct would have occurred beyond the timeline where a crime of assault can be prosecuted.
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“As of today, law enforcement has not presented a case related to the attack depicted in the video against Mr. Combs, but we encourage anyone who has been a victim or witness to a crime to report it to law enforcement or reach out to our office for support from our Bureau of Victims Services.”
The Los Angeles Police Department told CNN on Saturday that it is “aware of the video” but does not have an open investigation into Combs. The department did not say whether a report was filed about the incident
Cassie declined to comment about the video. Her attorney Douglas H. Wigdor, said, “the gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs.”
The incident reportedly took place at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Century City. IHG said it no longer has any video from the hotel since it o longer controls the property.
According to Cassie’s lawsuit, the incident took place in March 2016. The suit alleges that Combs paid the hotel $50,000 for the security footage from the hallway. The lawsuit further alleged that Combs was repeatedly violent toward her and forced her to have sex with other men.
Combs denied the allegations as well as those made in five other lawsuits filed against him. Additionally, federal authorities have launched an investigations — which included raids on his homes in California and Florida — in connection with the lawsuits.
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[Featured image: Cassie Ventura, left, and Sean “Diddy” Combs arrive at the Los Angeles premiere of “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A Bad Boy Story” at the Writers Guild Theater on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)]
