Story by Gary Klein and Jill Leovy
Los Angeles Times
April 27, 2006

USC quarterback Mark Sanchez, who was battling to become
the Trojans' starter, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion
of sexual assault.

Los Angeles Police Department officers took the 19-year-old
redshirt freshman into custody about 4 p.m., after a female
USC student told police she had been sexually assaulted by
Sanchez in the early morning. Sanchez, from Mission Viejo,
was arrested at the Cardinal Gardens apartment complex at
3131 McClintock Ave.

Police would not say where the alleged assault occurred.

The security system at a nearby club Sanchez visited late
Tuesday night shows him leaving at 12:59 a.m. Wednesday.

"He left by himself," a club employee said. "There was no
girl with him."

Sanchez was taken to LAPD's Parker Center in downtown Los
Angeles. As of late Wednesday, his bail had been set at
$200,000, according to Officer Jason Lee of the LAPD. Lee
said Sanchez would be "booked very soon."

Police said the woman was not hospitalized.

USC Coach Pete Carroll was out of town on a recruiting trip
but said he was aware of Sanchez's arrest.

"We're just hearing about this," Carroll said in a
statement released by the university Wednesday evening.
"We'll cooperate fully and do whatever we can to assist. At
this point, this is being handled by the university's
student affairs office and we'll follow along with whatever
action the university takes."

Michael L. Jackson, USC's vice president of student
affairs, said that Sanchez would be put on "interim
suspension" while the case was pending, meaning that the
athlete cannot attend class or participate in other student
activities until the university reviews the situation
further.

"We need to understand better what's going on before we can
make a determination of anything," Jackson said.

"We take these things very seriously...We don't know the
facts, but the nature of the allegations are serious."

Spring semester classes conclude Friday and final exams are
May 3-10. USC officials said it was too early to determine
whether Sanchez's eligibility for the 2006 season, which
begins Sept. 2 at Arkansas, would be jeopardized.

Witnesses to the arrest said the area just north of campus
was swarming with police and campus safety officers as
Sanchez and sophomore linebacker Brian Cushing were led
away from Building E in the sprawling complex.

Cushing was released at the scene.

USC students Matthew Menjou and Altman Tsang, roommates who
live in a building adjacent to where Sanchez was taken into
custody, said Sanchez happened upon them in a parking lot
behind the apartment buildings about 1:30 a.m.

Menjou, from Torrance, said he and Tsang, who is from
Centerville, Va., said they had returned from getting
something to eat when the car they were in ran out of gas
just as they prepared to park.

Menjou said Sanchez, whom he recognized from photos as a
football player who was supposed to be "the next Matt
Leinart," showed up and offered to help them push the car
into a space.

Menjou said Sanchez was loud and appeared as if he had been
drinking alcohol.

According to an employee of the 901 Club on Figueroa
Street, club security cameras show Sanchez arrived at the
bar Tuesday night at 11:21, using a fake Arizona ID that
showed his name as Jordan Traver Uttal.

"I saw him and he was stoned-faced sober when he came in,"
said the employee, who asked not to be identified by name.

The club, known by USC students as "The 9-0," is about a
10-minute walk from Cardinal Gardens.

Sanchez is the second USC player to be arrested on
suspicion of sexual assault in the last 13 months.

In March 2005, cornerback Eric Wright was booked on
suspicion of rape after an alleged incident at the complex,
but he was never charged. Wright eventually transferred to
Nevada Las Vegas.

In August 2004, the LAPD launched a sexual assault
investigation that involved Trojan football players after
an alleged incident occurred at the same complex. No
arrests were made.

Sanchez, who is listed at 6 feet 4 and 215 pounds, took
most of the snaps in the Trojans' recently completed spring
practice after junior John David Booty suffered a back
injury that required surgery.

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