By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — An Upper East Side resident has been charged alongside his two buddies, including baseball star buddy Garrett Wittels, for allegedly raping two 17-year-old girls in the Bahamas, according to published reports.
East 72nd Street resident Robert Rothschild, 21, was charged along with friends Jonathan Oberti, 21 and Wittels, 20, after they were seen partying with the two teenagers in the Bahamas, the New York Post reported.
The three men were allowed to return to the United States after being released on a $10,000 bail at a hearing last Thursday. They didn't enter a plea, according to the paper.
Video surveillance footage from Dec. 20 shows the girls kissing at an Atlantis Hotel bar and gesturing to one of the suspects, according to the Miami Herald.
Sources told the paper that the two girls were intoxicated.
"They drank too much. They went to the guys' room. The girls were together. The girls are saying they can't remember anything," the source told the Herald.
The father of one of the accusers called police after the girls returned to the hotel room in the Bahamas, where the age of consent is 16 but the legal drinking age is 18.
Wittel's father, Michael, says the girls are accusing Garrett because of his sports fame, and that he would eventually be cleared, according to the Herald. Wittels plays baseball at Florida International University where he has a 56-game hitting streak, the Herald reported.
Rothschild, whose parents are involved with the American Friends of the Hebrew University, and his two friends have another court date April 18.
Two more men, Steven Trompberg and David Shapiro, are reportedly involved in the case and are being held in the Bahamas, but have not been charged, according to reports.
It is unclear whether or not the NCAA will take action against Wittels after his arrest, according to the Herald.
"Anyone can accuse anyone of anything at any time," Michael Wittels told the paper. "He's not doing well, obviously. He's blown away. He's devastated that someone would accuse him of this."
