New York State Police say two Delaware County residents face charges after Troopers went to a home in Roxbury to investigate a reported rape April 27.

Two investigators and two troopers went to 77-year-old Gloria Laureanti’s home at 1:25 p.m. looking to arrest the woman’s grandson, who is a suspect in a rape investigation.

When authorities got to the house, they say they found the front door closed and partially blocked by a refrigerator before being confronted by a belligerent Laurenanti.

Officials say within minutes of encountering the woman, she pulled two revolvers from behind her back, pointing them at troopers.  She dropped the guns, which turned out to be cap pistols, when officers drew their weapons.

Troopers say Laurenanti continued to resist but was taken into custody and charged with four felony counts of menacing a police officer and misdemeanor resisting arrest.

26-year-old Vincent Brower is charged with felony counts of rape and criminal sex act and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child.

GEORGETOWN— A woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by a former University of Delaware baseball player accused of multiple rapes told a jury Tuesday that she was surprised when he agreed to connect with her on an online dating site.

“He was a UD baseball player, and I was surprised that he would match with me,” the woman said, recounting how she connected with Clay Conaway on the meeting site Bumble. “He seemed just somewhat out of my league. … I couldn’t imagine that he would want to get to know me.”

The alleged victim is one of six women that Conaway, 23, is accused of sexually assaulting between 2013 and 2018. She was to resume testifying Wednesday.
The woman, 21, shared her excitement about connecting with Conaway in text messages with friends, sharing screenshots of his Bumble profile and his Instagram page, which she said she still follows.

“OMG I matched with a Delaware baseball player. … He’s so hot I’m screaming,” the woman texted to a friend.
She also testified that the day after she and Conaway connected on Bumble in May 2018, Conaway sent her a nude photo of himself on Snapchat. In a text exchange with a friend, she estimated the size of his genitalia and expressed amusement about receiving the photo. The friend advised that she block Conaway from her Snapchat account.

“I’ll keep him but now I know what he’s on Bumble for,” the woman responded, explaining to the jury that she understood then that “he was not on there to necessarily date.”
A week later, the woman, who had recently broken up with her boyfriend, told a friend in a text that she wanted “to hook up with somebody.”
“I think I’ve made up my mind,” added the woman, who explained to the jury that hooking up didn’t necessarily mean having sex, but also was not something “super serious.”
In a message to her friend, the woman named five men, including Conaway, whom she could “hit up.”
Two weeks later, she drove to Conaway’s house, where she says he raped her.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they come forward publicly.
Earlier Tuesday, former high school classmate Carey Karl, who described the accuser as her best friend, recounted a text exchange with her shortly before she met Conaway.

“I know that he just wants to have sex so I don’t know how to feel about that to be honest,” the woman wrote. She also indicated that she had told Conaway that she was not comfortable with “the whole hit it and quit it deal,” and that he understood.

Karl said the woman called her later that day crying, saying she wanted to talk and didn’t want to go home. The two sat for about an hour in Karl’s car before she and the woman’s mother convinced her to go to the hospital to be examined.

“She was shaking and kind of hunched over. … She told me that she had ended up having sex and that she didn’t want to,” Karl said.

DOVER — Milford police arrested a Cape Henlopen player and issued arrest warrants for two individuals following the fight that stopped Thursday night’s high school basketball game between Cape and Smyrna.

Late Friday afternoon, Milford Police announced the arrest of Cape basketball player Randy Rickards, 18, of Milton.

He was charged with disorderly conduct and third-degree assault.

Authorities said Mr. Rickards immediately turned himself in to law enforcement when he learned of an arrest warrant.

He was presented at Justice of the Peace Court 2 in Rehoboth Beach, where a $1,000 unsecured bail was set.

Mr. Rickards was scheduled to appear at the Kent County Common Pleas at a later date, police said.

Two other arrest warrants were filed and police said further information would be released when available.

Milford Sgt. Robert Masten said Cape Henlopen and Smyrna high schools were both assisting with the investigation.

Delaware State Police and Harrington Police officers also responded to the Thursday night fight and helped Milford officers assigned to the game and other officers who responded from the patrol division.

The contest, which was played at Milford High, was to determine the champion of the Henlopen Conference Northern Division after the Vikings and Eagles tied for the title.

Friday night’s Henlopen Conference championship game, between Smyrna and Woodbridge, was played as scheduled at Dover High.

As is its custom, the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association allowed the Milford police and school adminstrations from both Cape Henlopen and Smyrna to investigate the incident and hand out any punishments.

“The DIAA and its membership are working on additional safeguards to help prevent future incidents,” DIAA executive director Tommie Neubauer said in a statement Friday afternoon.

Officials were able to look at a number of videos that were taken of the brawl.

Seaford High Athletic Director Jerry Kobasa, a Henlopen Conference representative, said only one Cape Henlopen player will be disciplined.

“We studied video last night, gave Tommie (Neubauer) our results and the officials said the same thing,” said Mr. Kobasa. “Milford was outstanding with providing video which showed no other players were involved. Milford police did an outstanding job of restoring order.”

He said students from various schools were on tape involved but only one of them was a player.

Cape Henlopen superintendent Bob Fulton also issued a statement on the matter Friday afternoon prior to the Milford police announcing their arrest and warrants.

“We are extremely concerned and disappointed in the environment at last night’s basketball game as well as the ensuing altercation,” he said. “We are committed to addressing negative actions involving any of our students/athletes.

‘We are also committed to working with others to determine what can be done differently in the future so that last night’s events are not repeated. We are currently investigating all aspects of the incident to determine any disciplinary consequences and/or outcomes.”

The incident began with 4:02 remaining in the fourth quarter and Smyrna leading 61-34 in the crowded gym.

While Cape Henlopen was returning to its bench after a huddle during a timeout, punches were exchanged between fans in the front row and players.

It quickly spilled onto the court as coaches and administrators tried to restrain the parties involved. Multiple people were thrown to the floor and Milford police officers were seen putting handcuffs on at least one spectator.

Cape Henlopen players were ushered into the locker room as police officers worked to clear the floor. After things settled down, blood was visible on the court and on the wall near the entrance to Cape Henlopen’s locker room.

Prior to the brawl, Henlopen Conference officials and police officers on separate occasions warned the row of spectators seated directly behind the Cape Henlopen bench during the break in between the third and fourth quarters.

Smyrna’s bench was at the other end of the gym and none of its team personel were believed to be directly involved in the fight.

The incident did not have any impact on either team’s standing in the upcoming DIAA state tournament. Cape Henlopen was the No. 1 seed by the tourney’s point system while Smyrna — the defending state champion — was No. 3.

Staff writers Tim Mastro and Craig Anderson contributed to this story.

Reach sports editor Andy Walter at walter@newszap.com