Court date set for Sanchez
Redshirt freshman quarterback Mark Sanchez was taken into custody by the LAPD on Wednesday afternoon outside of his Cardinal Gardens apartment building.
Sanchez was released on $200,000 bail on Thursday afternoon and has a court date set for May 17, 2006.
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He was arrested for an alleged sexual assault against a female student.
An investigation has commenced, but the LAPD media relations declined to comment on the case at this time.
Charges are expected to be filed by the LAPD within the next few days.
USC's vice president of student affairs Michael Jackson said that Sanchez would be put on "interim suspension" while the case is pending.
With the end of the semester at hand and finals starting on May 3rd, the suspension could put Sanchez's eligibility in jeopardy for the 2006 season.
Sanchez could still be allowed to take finals, depending on what facts come out of the investigation.
According to the LAPD website, the incident allegedly took place at approximately 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
However, the LA Times reported that a security camera caught Sanchez leaving the 901 Club at 12:59 a.m. Wednesday. Then at approximately 1:30 a.m. the Times reported that Sanchez helped two students push their car that had run out of gas into its parking spot.
According to a former LAPD detective, official policy involving charges of sexual assault are to arrest the suspect immediately after the alleged victim states the accusations.
Sanchez had attended a sexual harassment class on Tuesday and the team was recently lectured by Pete Carroll regarding the rape charges that were brought up against the Duke lacrosse team.
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