Police say Jazz players not a focus

Police in Portland, Ore., say they have no reason to call several Utah Jazz players "suspects" in an assault that occurred at a hotel in which the team was staying.

However, the Portland Police Bureau told the Deseret Morning News late Wednesday it could not say who is — or is not — a suspect, because the alleged victim is not cooperating.

Investigators questioned several Jazz players on Sunday, describing them as "fully cooperative."

"We have no reason to identify them as a suspect of a crime," Portland Police Bureau Sgt. Brian Schmautz told the Deseret Morning News on Wednesday.

He said they were trying to figure out if a crime even took place.

Officers were called to the RiverPlace Hotel on Sunday about a woman described to be "hysteric" in the lobby area. The posh hotel on the banks of the Willamette River is where players for the Utah Jazz were staying before playing the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.

Initially, reports said it was a sexual assault. However, police on Wednesday declined to specify the nature of the crime. Investigators said the woman is not cooperating.

"We have a person who appears to have gone through some type of problem but doesn't want to cooperate and tell us what it was," Schmautz said. "What we do in these situations is talk to everyone we can and gather any evidence that we can."

Police said they knocked on nearby hotel room doors, questioning many people. Those questioned by police included several players

for the Jazz.

At practice in Salt Lake City on Wednesday morning, players who were in Portland were not commenting. Jazz senior vice president Kevin O'Connor read a statement to reporters.

"There is an ongoing investigation by the Portland police department concerning the Utah Jazz," he said. "The players and staff of the Utah Jazz are fully cooperating with investigators. At this time, the team has no further comment."

O'Connor would not elaborate on what the incident was, or what his players' potential involvement was.

"What I think we try and do with it is let the people that are in authority go through their investigation, and we sit back and deal with it at the end of the investigation," he said. "To jump to conclusions is something we try not to do."

Portland police have not closed the case. Investigators would not characterize the level of involvement the Jazz players had in the incident, either as witnesses or in any other way, but emphasized they are not considered suspects at this time.

"We just don't want anyone to think we're suggesting that anyone from your basketball team from down there is stonewalling us," Schmautz said. "Because that's just not true."

---

Contributing: Linda Hamilton

---

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com