Probe Focuses on Irvin

A videotape seized in a search of the apartment of Dallas Cowboy tackle Erik Williams on Tuesday might determine, as a 23-year-old woman has alleged, if wide receiver Michael Irvin held a gun to her head while Williams and another man sexually assaulted her.

The woman, who was treated for cuts and scratches at Parkland Memorial Hospital, told police Monday night that the incident took place Sunday night--a day after the Cowboys’ 40-15 wild-card victory over Minnesota.

“She was visiting, she’s a known acquaintance of Williams and apparently things got out of hand and she was forced to have sex with these two individuals against her will,” said Lt. David Goelden of the Dallas Police sex crime unit. “One of the individuals supposedly had a gun.”

In the police report, the woman identified the man holding the gun as Irvin.

Police served a search warrant at Williams’ home early Tuesday morning, and a videotape and other evidence was seized. A Dallas TV station, which has used the woman as a source in the past, reported that the assault was taped.

Sgt. Jim Chandler of the Dallas Police Department said the videotape appears to contain sexual activity, which the police “believe to be related to Sunday night.”

Chandler said no charges will be filed until they can “get some physical evidence processed in the lab.” That would be Thursday at the earliest. Police also plan to talk to both players that day.

If arrested, Irvin’s probation for pleading no contest to felony cocaine possession charges after police found him in a motel room with two strippers, could be lifted, exposing him to immediate jail time.

At his July 16 sentencing, in which he was given four years’ deferred adjudication, a $10,000 fine and 800 hours of community service, Irvin was told by State District Judge Manny Alvarez: “If you come back before me. . . . I will find you guilty of this offense and you’re looking at 20 years in the penitentiary.”

David Lozano, Alvarez’s court coordinator, said the judge had no comment on the latest developments.

Irvin and Williams were on the Cowboys’ practice field Tuesday getting ready for Sunday’s playoff game in Carolina when the police went public with the woman’s accusations.

“I don’t know anything about anything,” said Irvin. “I have not done anything in any way, shape or form to violate my probation.

“I’m tired of it, tired of it all. I’ve done enough bad things to my family and my teammates. But in this case, I have done nothing. I don’t even know what everybody is talking about.”

Irvin’s attorney, Royce West, suggested that the media was now persecuting his client for past transgressions. “I wish the media would allow Michael to go ahead and take care of his business, and do what he wants to do--play football,” he said.

Williams had no more to say than “no comment” before being escorted by team security to a car to avoid the media crush at the Cowboys’ Valley Ranch practice facility.

Dallas Coach Barry Switzer closed the Cowboys’ locker room for 20 minutes after practice to allow team owner Jerry Jones to address the team. Switzer said later, “I will practice every player that is marked ready for duty and is eligible to play under NFL policy.”

Switzer made it clear he expects both players to conduct business as usual in Sunday’s playoff game.

“This does not involve anything that will keep them from playing,” he said. “They’re going to deal with it and just go on. There’s no perfect timing for anything like this.”

At a police news conference, Lt. Goelden said the two will not be prevented from leaving the state during the investigation.

An NFL spokesman said the league would take no action in such situations unless a player is both charged and convicted.

Williams, 28 and a Pro Bowl left tackle, was previously accused of sexual assault, but a grand jury in June 1995 declined to indict him after the 17-year-old girl reached a civil settlement with Williams and asked that he not be prosecuted.

Irvin, 30, had been suspended by the NFL for the first five games of the season, but had returned to propel the Cowboys into the playoffs as the NFC East Division champions. There were rumors a few weeks ago that Irvin had flunked a drug test jeopardizing his probation, which promoted him to deny such suggestions publicly. And the rumors apparently were groundless.

The Cowboys, the defending Super Bowl champions, have been battered by a series of problems the last two years. Most recently, Leon Lett, the team’s top defensive player, failed a drug test and was suspended by the league for a year.

They lost defensive lineman Shante Carter for six games to begin the season for continued substance abuse, and had similar problems a year ago with wide receiver Cory Fleming, cornerback Clayton Holmes and Lett.

Meanwhile, police in Millbrae, Calif., said that another woman reported this weekend that she had been sexually assaulted by a member of the Philadelphia Eagles the night before their playoff game against the 49ers.

Police would not identify the player and said no immediate arrests had been made.

In a statement released late Tuesday, the Eagles said police indicated the investigation “does not involve a member of the club’s 53-man roster, injured reserve list, coaching staff or front office.”

The team’s traveling party of about 120 people, however, also includes the Eagles’ practice squad--up to five players--and support personnel.