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Members of Decapitated extradited on kidnapping accusations

Following allegations of kidnapping and sexual assault, two members of Polish death metal band Decapitated are currently being extradited to Washington State. All four members of the band were arrested following their Sept. 9 performance in Santa Ana, California, while on tour with Thy Art Is Murder.

Read more: Decapitated arrested for alleged kidnapping

As reported by the Spokesman-Review, Decapitated guitarist Waclaw Kieltyka and drummer Michal Lysejko began the extradition process on Monday night, Oct. 2, when the two were transported from a Los Angeles jail to Spokane County, Washington, according to an attorney for Lysejko, Steven Graham. The other two band members, lead vocalist Rafal Piotrowski and bassist Hubert Wiecek, will reportedly be extradited at a later date.

Decapitated's arrest on suspicion of first-degree kidnapping stems from an Aug. 31 incident when the group allegedly abducted a woman after their Spokane show at a club called the Pin. Since being taken into police custody, the band members have been awaiting extradition in Los Angeles County Jail.

Court documents released on Sept. 11 detail the alleged sexual assault in which the woman claims she was “raped by band members in their tour bus bathroom” and that she “entered the bus for drinks with the band before each member forced themselves on her.” The woman's friend reportedly told police that she was almost a victim of the attack herself but escaped the tour bus after kicking Piotrowski in the groin and running to her car.

However, the band members have not been officially charged with rape, though Graham said charges could be filed upon the group's arrival in Spokane. On Sept. 9, the attorney said there is “another side” to the accusations.

“We have witnesses that can testify to the fact that the accuser came to visit the band of her own free will,” Graham said. “The accuser has a documented history of providing false information to the police dating back to 2014.”

A police report provided to the defense offered differing accounts of the incident. The women contend they were invited onto the bus and offered drinks before the band members became aggressive and started groping them.

But a volunteer at the Pin, where the Aug. 31 concert took place, said the two women were “groping” and “all over” the lead singer and another member of the band (“feeling them up”) before they entered the tour bus. The volunteer said he later saw both women standing outside the bus door smoking a cigarette, and that the alleged victim seemed more “(angry) than anything.”

The woman who said she escaped the bus was stopped for a DUI later that night, according to the Spokesman-Review, and the State Trooper who made the stop said the woman didn't mention a sexual assault at the time.

It was when the trooper was parked outside of the Spokane County Jail and writing a search warrant for her blood that she asked to use her phone. There, the woman “spoke to someone on the phone and then said to him that her friend was raped by five men downtown,” police wrote in court documents.

In ensuing interviews, the alleged victim condemned law enforcement for lack of action following her friend's notification of the assault. The victim said officers “let [her] down” in a written complaint filed with the Spokane Police.

“Why was there no proaction when a young woman was crying for help [when] she just got raped by multiple men?” she wrote. “Please tell me how three squad police cars can show up to someone stealing, or petty theft, but when a woman's dignity is being taken away from her the police men just drive away?”

Decapitated, who have canceled all touring indefinitely, wrote on their Facebook page on Sept. 14: “While we are not perfect human beings, we are not kidnappers, rapists, or criminals. As such, we strongly deny the allegations that have recently been brought against us. We ask that everyone please reserve their judgement until a definitive outcome has been reached.”

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