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Saturday, September 07, 2002

By Cindi Lash and Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Staff Writers

Greensburg police said they expect to complete their investigation of a sexual assault complaint filed against Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis next week, and will submit their findings to District Attorney John Peck.

Greensburg Police Chief Richard Baric said police, who interviewed Bettis on Thursday night, now must interview several other people who were with Bettis or with the 22-year-old Westmoreland County woman who has accused him of assaulting her Aug. 21. Those people may include other Steelers players who were with Bettis that night in Bobby Dale's Restaurant & Lounge in Greensburg, Baric said.

Bettis has denied assaulting the woman and no charges have been filed. He has said he did not commit "any sexual misconduct or criminal acts" and in a brief statement to reporters yesterday said the allegations have left him with "a heavy heart."

Baric would not identify the others whom investigators plan to question, but said they include people "who could corroborate either the victim's or Mr. Bettis' stories." Baric would not say what Bettis told police during his interview Thursday, but said Bettis was cooperative and did not refuse to answer any questions.

"Everyone seems to agree that Mr. Bettis was in Bobby Dale's that night, with some other Steelers," Baric said.

"People float in and out and it's not exactly a small intimate bar. When the Steelers are there, phone calls go out and more people come in. We still don't know everyone who was there."

Also by the end of next week, police expect to have the results of forensic testing on evidence that was sent to the state police crime laboratory for analysis, Baric said.

Police searched Bettis' Land Rover sport utility vehicle after he gave them permission and furnished it to them yesterday morning. Baric would not say what, if anything, investigators found in that search, but police already have turned over to the crime lab a football and other evidence obtained from Bettis' accuser.

"It's possible we would request other evidence from him," Baric said. "But that would depend on how our investigation goes next week."

Bettis' attorney, Robert DelGreco Jr., said police did not ask Bettis for blood or hair samples, but said Bettis took and passed a voice stress analysis -- a kind of lie-detector test that is conducted with a microphone attached to a computer, which then tracks patterns created by the rise and fall of a voice.

A trained investigator studies and analyzes the patterns to assess the amount of stress in the voice, which can indicate whether the speaker is being truthful or deceptive. As with a polygraph test -- which records changes in such things as blood pressure, heart rate and breathing -- the results of voice stress analysis are not 100 percent accurate and are not admissible in court.

Baric would not confirm or deny that Bettis passed the test. He said police will decide how to proceed with the case after submitting the results of their investigation to Peck's office for review.

Police cannot file charges without first obtaining Peck's approval, Baric said. Peck yesterday declined comment.

The woman's name is not being released because the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette does not identify possible victims of sexual assault. She said Bettis assaulted her in the Land Rover after she met him at Bobby Dale's and asked him to autograph a football that was in her car.

The woman said Bettis accompanied her outside and signed the ball, then asked her if she wanted to get into his car to talk for a while. She said he drove away, then pulled off a street and forced her to perform oral sex.

Bettis and DelGreco have declined comment on all aspects of the woman's account.

"Unfortunately, due to the situation, I can't speak about the issues at hand. But I do want to let everyone know, the people of Pittsburgh know, that today I have a heavy heart because of the situation. It's been a very difficult time for me," Bettis told reporters when he arrived for practice yesterday morning at the team's South Side headquarters.

"I'm going to do as best I can to fully cooperate and do everything I can do to aid in this situation so that we can see the situation through," he said. "I'm doing everything that I can possibly do to make sure that happens."

Steelers Communications Coordinator Ron Wahl said neither team President Dan Rooney nor vice president and general counsel Art Rooney II would comment on the case. Wahl issued a statement on behalf of the team:

"Jerome Bettis has earned an impeccable reputation as a member of our community. We believe him when he says he did not engage in the alleged conduct."