Navy Football Players Rented Secret House Called "Black Pineapple"
The off-campus party house where a Naval Academy midshipman has alleged three football players gang raped her in 2012 was apparently called the "Black Pineapple," and was strictly prohibited by Navy rules.
Naval Academy rules require that students live in an on-campus dorm or with sponsor families. The academy also bars plebes from drinking and requires students leave their dorm room door open if a member of the opposite gender is present. To circumvent these rules, many students apparently rent homes like the Black Pineapple, a "brick split-level on a quiet cul de sac lined with cherry trees," for drinking and partying.
Navy officials routinely warn students' families and sponsor families that they may not rent a house on behalf of midshipmen, but one of the Black Pineapple residents, football player Jabaree Tuani, who rented the house out with three teammates, said they did it themselves.
"We knew what we were getting ourselves into, and we knew we were putting ourselves at risk," Tuani said in that interview. "We didn't think anything like this was going to happen. We thought it was going to be a low-key, under-the-radar type deal where we could just relax."