In what continues to be a stunning case, former NFL All-Pro safety Darren Sharper was indicted on yet another rape charge, this one in Arizona, for sexual assault and administering dangerous drugs, authorities said Wednesday.
Sharper, 38, also has been implicated in sexual assault investigations in California, Florida, Nevada and Louisiana. He is in custody in Los Angeles, where he has pleaded not guilty to seven rape and drug counts in connection with two alleged attacks in Hollywood. Sharper, who was working as an analyst on the NFL Network, had been freed on $1 million bail until an arrest warrant was issued in a New Orleans case.
In Arizona, the Tempe Police Department said a grand jury in metro Phoenix had indicted Sharper over sexual assaults committed in Tempe in November.
Police didn’t release any other details of the charges. The indictment has not yet been publicly released. A call by The Associated Press to the county prosecutor’s office, which runs grand jury investigations, wasn’t immediately returned.
Police reports released earlier said two women believed they were sexually assaulted by Sharper at a Tempe apartment on Nov. 21. One of the women told police she suspected she had been drugged before she was attacked.
It’s not known whether Sharper has a lawyer in Arizona.
Prosecutors in New Orleans said Wednesday there will not be an indictment of Sharper there by Thursday, a deadline set by a California judge who said she would have to release Sharper if charges weren’t filed by then in Louisiana.
New Orleans Assistant District Attorney Christopher Bowman said the case remained under investigation.
Sharper was selected All-Pro six times and chosen for the Pro Bowl five times. He played in two Super Bowls, one with the Green Bay Packers as a rookie, and another as part of a successful championship run while with the New Orleans Saints.
He retired after the 2010 season.
