Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 14, 1995 TAG: 9504150037
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Dallas police Sgt. Jim Chandler said Williams was taken into custody after police responded to a telephone request for help by the girl from Williams' north Dallas home.
Chandler said officers went to the residence and asked for the girl by her first name. Williams told officers she was not there and that there was no disturbance.
As officers returned to their patrol car, they said they heard a sound and saw the girl looking out a window. Officers then arrested Williams and another man.
``She said that she had known Williams for about four months and that he picked her up at her apartment and took her back to his house - she went willingly,'' Chandler said. ``She told them the story that she had been forced, with verbal threats, to engage in sexual intercourse with both men.''
Also arrested was Roderick Carson of Madison, Wis. Williams' attorney, Donald Godwin, said Williams identified Carson as a longtime friend and a high school football coach.
Sources at Central State of Ohio said Carson played football there with Williams, a 6-foot-6, 324-pound Pro Bowl player in his fourth year with the Cowboys.
Both were released after posting $2,500 bond at separate hearings before Judge Charles McClure. Williams' release was delayed until he cleared up outstanding warrants stemming from traffic citations accrued in Addison, a Dallas suburb.
Williams and Carson, both 26, spent Thursday morning at the Dallas County jail while investigators interviewed the girl.
``I have visited briefly with Erik and I'm in contact with the district attorney's office,'' Godwin said. ``We are awaiting word from them on what they're going to do.
``He appears to be in good spirits. He's very remorseful over having been arrested. He doesn't understand what the arrest was for.''
Said Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple: ``We're aware of the situation. We are in the information gathering process right now. We won't have any comment until we have further information.''
Williams was seriously injured Oct. 24, 1994, when his car slammed into a ramp on Interstate 635. He had reconstructive surgery on his right knee and missed the rest of the season.
He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor drunken driving and received two years' probation.
by CNB