A woman says she was at a bar near Times Square Sunday night when Cuba Gooding Jr. groped her breasts. The actor's rep says Gooding will turn himself in to the NYPD's sex crimes unit Thursday, NBC News reports. TMZ is similarly framing it as a "surrender" and says Gooding is expected to be arrested and booked on a misdemeanor charge of forcible touching, but the New York Daily News frames it as a "sit down" with detectives, arranged by his lawyer, during which Gooding has agreed to be interviewed. USA Today explains that "accused celebrities often seek this low-key approach to facing legal charges in order to avoid being picked up, cuffed, and perp-walked into a precinct." The actor denies the woman's claims.
The woman, variously reported as 29 or 30, says a "highly intoxicated" Gooding grabbed her breast, after which they got into an argument that had to be broken up by security, per the New York Post. The NYPD's Special Victims Division said Monday it was investigating the alleged incident, including obtaining surveillance video from Manhattan's Magic Hour Rooftop Bar and Lounge, but Gooding, 51, told reporters Tuesday the video will only serve to exonerate him, per TMZ. "I trust the system and I’m going to let the process speak for itself," he said. CNN notes the Oscar-winning actor was accused of pushing a female New Orleans bartender in 2012, but she eventually dropped all charges. (More Cuba Gooding Jr. stories.)
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