Patrick Kane Investigation: Alleged Rape Victim Wasn't Flirting With Kane at Bar, Went With Friend

Two days ago, the Buffalo News ran several questionable quotes from the owner of the SkyBar about a woman who was with Patrick Kane on the night of the alleged rape at his house. Those quotes could be seen as victim blaming, describing a woman as “being very forward, very flirtatious with him,” and “[i]t was almost like she stationed herself near him and was keeping other women away from him.”

Then, the story added this bizarre comment that makes one wonder why it passed publishing merit.

"“I don’t know if this is the same woman who made the rape allegation against him,” Croce said. “I only know what I saw that night on my own premises. If you’re going to ask what happened between them after they left that night, how would I know?” The News could not independently verify whether the woman Croce described is the same woman who made the rape complaint to Hamburg Police."

As it turns out, as the Buffalo News is now reporting, it was not the same woman. According to multiple sources, including a law enforcement source, the woman who says she was raped by Kane was not the one who was flirting with Kane earlier that evening, but instead one who accompanied her friend.

"“They were at SkyBar, and Kane invited them to his home. Her friend really wanted to go to Kane’s house, and she didn’t want her friend to go there alone,” a friend of the woman told The Buffalo News. “It wasn’t her idea to go there.”"

The Buffalo News also spoke to several co-workers of the victim, who were upset with the quotes from the SkyBar owner.

"“She’s a really nice girl, and it made me sick to see Mr. Croce make her look like she was some kind of gold digger, that she was out looking to pick up Pat Kane,” one of the co-workers said. “She’s really getting bashed, and it upset me. … I don’t think Mr. Croce should be making remarks like that. I don’t think it’s fair. He’s taking Pat Kane’s side in this because Pat Kane was going to have a big Stanley Cup party at his bar.”"

So now the story is out there, with the quotes from the bar owner, but it appears that the woman in question went along with her friend, because she did not want her friend to go to Kane’s house alone.