Ray Rice reportedly spat in the face of his then-fiancee Janay Palmer twice–once outside the elevator and once in the elevator–before clocking her unconscious.
ESPN spoke to two security staffers who were on duty and another who had “full access to the security video,” and one staffer said that after Rice spat in Palmer’s face twice–“once outside the elevator and once inside”–she retaliated before being knocked out.
After security staff yelled to get Rice “away from her,” Rice reportedly initially tried to claim that Palmer was drunk. “She’s intoxicated. She drank too much. I’m just trying to get her to the room,” he reportedly said, according to the staffer ESPN interviewed.
When Palmer regained consciousness, she reportedly said to Rice, “How could you do this to me? I’m the mother of your kid.” Rice then reportedly called someone on his cellphone and said, “I’m getting arrested tonight.” The staffer told ESPN that “25 to 30 Revel security staffers saw the security camera footage of Rice striking Palmer” but were not contacted by the NFL or the Ravens for the video footage.