BREAKING: Charlotte FC player linked to sex assault report
Andre Shinyashiki hasn’t played since early April and has been held out because of a ‘private’ matter, the team has said
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23-year-old woman tells police she was sexually assaulted in uptown apartment hours after season opener in February
By Carroll Walton
Charlotte FC forward Andre Shinyashiki has been linked to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police report in which a 23-year-old woman says she was sexually assaulted.
For more than two weeks, Shinyashiki has not played or practiced for Charlotte’s Major League Soccer team, and the team’s coach has said his absence is because of a “private” matter.
On Tuesday, The Charlotte Ledger provided CMPD with Shinyashiki’s name and date of birth and asked for any incident reports involving him. CMPD’s records office gave us a two-page incident report that contains few details and does not list Shinyashiki by name. The report indicates that there were four individuals present in addition to the victim. Police reports typically have a public portion with basic information as well as a more detailed portion that police do not publicly release.
Shinyashiki has not been charged with a crime.
When reached on Monday, Shinyashiki’s agent, Mike Senkowski, said in an e-mail: “Charlotte Police and MLS have investigated the incident. No charges have been filed, and Andre is permitted to resume playing in MLS.”
After this article was initially published on Tuesday afternoon, Shinyashiki said on Twitter: “I fully cooperated with Charlotte Police and MLS in their separate investigations related to the incident and no charges have been filed against me. I’ve also been cleared by MLS to play. I’ll have no further comment.”
The team declined to comment.
Andre Shinyashiki was Charlotte’s third-leading scorer last year, with six goals in 21 games. (File photo by Charlotte FC)
According to the report provided by CMPD, a 23-year-old white female “reported that she was sexually assaulted” and that the incident took place on Feb. 26 between 2:15 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. The address listed on the report is 550 E. Brooklyn Village Ave. uptown. That’s the same address as Uptown 550, a 22-story apartment tower.
The incident was reported to police on March 8, more than a week later, the report says.
The report does not list the accuser’s name or other identifying information, and it classifies the potential offenses as “Rape/Sex Offense / Rape: Forcible (against adult)” and “Sex Offense/Assault / Sexual Battery (adult).” It says no weapon was reported.
A CMPD spokesman declined to elaborate on the report. A spokeswoman with the district attorney’s office said prosecutors generally do not receive case information until law enforcement makes an arrest, and she referred questions to CMPD.
According to the incident report, the case is open but it’s inactive, which means detectives aren’t actively investigating new information.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police produced this police report when asked for incident reports involving Charlotte FC player Andre Shinyashiki, who has been held out of practice for the last few weeks because of an undisclosed off-the-field situation. It says a 23-year-old woman reported being sexually assaulted on Feb. 26. It does not contain her name or Shinyashiki’s name. Read the report for yourself.
The date and time of the reported incident are a few hours after Charlotte FC finished its season-opening game, a 1-0 loss to New England at Bank of America Stadium.
Shinyashiki, 25, is still on the Charlotte FC roster but hasn’t played in a game since he was left off the 20-player active roster for Charlotte’s game against Colorado on April 15, which is unusual for a veteran player and regular contributor off the bench.
Charlotte FC reportedly attempted to trade Shinyahiki last week: Tom Bogert of The Athletic wrote that Charlotte FC was on the verge of trading Shinyashiki to Real Salt Lake in exchange for veteran forward Justin Meram and $200,000 in what’s called general allocation money. Three days later, Charlotte FC announced it had acquired Meram for $200,000, but there was no mention of Shinyashiki, and Bogart reported that the deal “fell apart.”
Already, the 2023 season, just the second for this franchise, has had its share of off-the-field turmoil. Defender Anton Walkes was killed in a boating accident in Miami in January, during the team’s preseason. Shinyashiki was one of Walkes’ best friends on the team and spoke at the ceremony of life service Charlotte FC held in Walkes’ honor at Bank of America Stadium.
Shinyashiki spoke at the memorial service for Anton Walkes in January. (File photo by Charlotte FC.)
Shinyashiki, a native of Brazil who played college soccer at the University of Denver, has been a dynamic member of Charlotte FC since he arrived in a trade from Colorado a year ago. He scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 win over Inter Miami in his first action with the team off the bench on May 7. He scored six goals in 21 games with the team last year, which made him the third-leading scorer behind Karol Swiderski (10) and Daniel Rios (7).
He has been an outspoken personality on the team and a regular at team events, which added to his popularity with fans. Shinyashiki has played in 26 games total for Charlotte FC, including 10 starts. Even as primarily a bench player, Charlotte signed him to a multi-year contract last August, extending him through the 2025 season with a club option for 2026.
➡️ Read the CMPD incident report for yourself.
Related Charlotte Ledger articles:
“Charlotte FC roster moves raise eyebrows” (Fútbol Friday, April 28)
Carroll Walton writes The Charlotte Ledger’s weekly Fútbiol Friday newsletter on Charlotte FC. She was formerly a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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