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"The description of the alleged defendant immediately raised a question, since Ray Lewis is over 6 foot and weighs about 240," Merker said.
Merker said he also received statements collected by Lewis' lawyer from employees and other witnesses in the bar who said Lewis "wasn't anywhere near the area" during the incident.
Merker said he is now waiting to hear from Parker's civil lawyer, A. Dwight Pettit, whom he has asked to produce statements from anyone who saw Lewis hit Parker.
Pettit said he has collected statements from four witnesses who say they saw Lewis hit Parker. Parker, in court papers, also accused Lewis of assaulting two other women at the bar, but Merker said those women never filed complaints against the football player.
A bartender at the Windsor Inn said Lewis and a number of other Ravens players often showed up to watch "Monday Night Football" on television.
"He was always such a gentleman. I just don't believe all this," said Ange Jordan.
The bar routinely attracts up to 200 people on Monday nights and hires a disc jockey who plays music after the games. Lewis and the other Ravens players always behaved well, Jordan said.
In Atlanta, the Cobalt Lounge has quickly become a hot spot among the dozens of bars in Buckhead. Earlier during Super Bowl week, Michael Jordan stopped in, as did Wayne Gretzky and actor Judd Nelson, according to its owner, Tom Cook.
"We had a wonderful week here, and while some local people want to talk about the bars and people in Baltimore want to talk about Ray Lewis, I don't want to lose sight of the fact that two men lost their lives," he said.
Lewis had gone to the Cobalt Lounge on Wednesday for a fund-raiser, Cook said, and returned Sunday for the game and a party. "He had an entourage with him," the owner said. "It seems like all of the players have people with them. None of them travel alone."
He said six uniformed Atlanta police officers supplemented a security staff of about 15 people, using cameras and a sophisticated communications system.
Cook said there was no indication that Lewis or anybody with him was involved in an altercation. He said he could not confirm whether the two victims had been at the club.
A good neighbor
Residents near Lewis' Worthington Valley home described him as a nice guy and a good neighbor since he moved last spring into the upscale community, which has been home to sports figures such as Orioles pitcher Mike Mussina and catcher Charles Johnson.
Lewis did throw a loud party last summer for his birthday, neighbors said, but nothing that was out of the ordinary. His mother and a couple of sisters are believed to be living in the house with him, but most of the friends visiting him are Ravens teammates, neighbors said.
"He's one of the nicest guys you can meet," said Henry Trutsi, 21, an avid football fan who has lived in the community for about four years. I just walked by his house one day and introduced myself to him.
"He invited me to his house a couple times after that and got me a couple tickets to his games," Trutsi said.
Said neighbor David Kaiser, who has lived in the community for five years: "He's the kind of guy who would invite friends to the pool out back behind his house and he'd come around asking if they were making too much noise. The people who lived there before him had noisier parties, I think.
"We don't see him too often because he's a pretty busy guy," said Kaiser, 50, an insurance consultant. "This is a great shock to everybody. We hope they get to the bottom of it real quick, and we're just hoping maybe Ray wasn't directly involved. He's always seemed like such a nice guy."
Sun staff writers Dan Thanh Dang, Bill Free, Peter Hermann, Joan Jacobson, Ann LoLordo, TaNoah Morgan, Ken Murray, Dennis O'Brien, Mike Preston, Ken Rosenthal, Laura Sullivan and Del Quentin Wilber contributed to this article.
Merker said he also received statements collected by Lewis' lawyer from employees and other witnesses in the bar who said Lewis "wasn't anywhere near the area" during the incident.
Pettit said he has collected statements from four witnesses who say they saw Lewis hit Parker. Parker, in court papers, also accused Lewis of assaulting two other women at the bar, but Merker said those women never filed complaints against the football player.
A bartender at the Windsor Inn said Lewis and a number of other Ravens players often showed up to watch "Monday Night Football" on television.
"He was always such a gentleman. I just don't believe all this," said Ange Jordan.
The bar routinely attracts up to 200 people on Monday nights and hires a disc jockey who plays music after the games. Lewis and the other Ravens players always behaved well, Jordan said.
In Atlanta, the Cobalt Lounge has quickly become a hot spot among the dozens of bars in Buckhead. Earlier during Super Bowl week, Michael Jordan stopped in, as did Wayne Gretzky and actor Judd Nelson, according to its owner, Tom Cook.
"We had a wonderful week here, and while some local people want to talk about the bars and people in Baltimore want to talk about Ray Lewis, I don't want to lose sight of the fact that two men lost their lives," he said.
Lewis had gone to the Cobalt Lounge on Wednesday for a fund-raiser, Cook said, and returned Sunday for the game and a party. "He had an entourage with him," the owner said. "It seems like all of the players have people with them. None of them travel alone."
He said six uniformed Atlanta police officers supplemented a security staff of about 15 people, using cameras and a sophisticated communications system.
Cook said there was no indication that Lewis or anybody with him was involved in an altercation. He said he could not confirm whether the two victims had been at the club.
A good neighbor
Residents near Lewis' Worthington Valley home described him as a nice guy and a good neighbor since he moved last spring into the upscale community, which has been home to sports figures such as Orioles pitcher Mike Mussina and catcher Charles Johnson.
Lewis did throw a loud party last summer for his birthday, neighbors said, but nothing that was out of the ordinary. His mother and a couple of sisters are believed to be living in the house with him, but most of the friends visiting him are Ravens teammates, neighbors said.
"He's one of the nicest guys you can meet," said Henry Trutsi, 21, an avid football fan who has lived in the community for about four years. I just walked by his house one day and introduced myself to him.
"He invited me to his house a couple times after that and got me a couple tickets to his games," Trutsi said.
Said neighbor David Kaiser, who has lived in the community for five years: "He's the kind of guy who would invite friends to the pool out back behind his house and he'd come around asking if they were making too much noise. The people who lived there before him had noisier parties, I think.
"We don't see him too often because he's a pretty busy guy," said Kaiser, 50, an insurance consultant. "This is a great shock to everybody. We hope they get to the bottom of it real quick, and we're just hoping maybe Ray wasn't directly involved. He's always seemed like such a nice guy."
Sun staff writers Dan Thanh Dang, Bill Free, Peter Hermann, Joan Jacobson, Ann LoLordo, TaNoah Morgan, Ken Murray, Dennis O'Brien, Mike Preston, Ken Rosenthal, Laura Sullivan and Del Quentin Wilber contributed to this article.
