USC’s Emanuel May Face Additional Assault Charge

USC tailback Aaron Emanuel, who could face criminal charges stemming from an alleged attack Sunday on a female USC student, also may be prosecuted for allegedly assaulting another young woman last December.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office is reviewing a report of the earlier incident, in which Emanuel allegedly slapped another female USC student, to determine if charges will be filed, office spokesman Andy Reynolds said.

Reynolds said that a decision probably will be made today on whether to file charges in either case or both.

Sharon Hatfield, a member of the USC women’s track team, told Sheriff’s detectives that Emanuel punched her in the face and knocked her unconscious early Sunday morning during a party at the home of a USC alumnus in an unincorporated area between Arcadia and San Marino.

In the earlier incident, which occurred at about 10 p.m. last Dec. 18, an unidentified 23-year-old woman told police that she was slapped by Emanuel at the 502 Club on West Jefferson Boulevard.

According to Lt. Dan Cooke of the Los Angeles Police Dept., the woman told police that Emanuel, 20, had harassed her for several months, and that when he tried to speak with her that night, she told him she was not interested in talking with him.

She said that Emanuel then slapped her in the face, Cooke said.

In his statement to the police, Emanuel said that he had not slapped the woman. He said that she threw beer in his face, and that he pushed her away, Cooke said.

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office rejected the case on Jan. 23 because the woman did not want to prosecute, Cooke said.

Reynolds said the district attorney’s office has the power to review the matter even though the case was rejected by the city attorney.

“We are inquiring as to the possibility of filing a charge in the previous case,” Reynolds said.

According to the USC sports information office, Emanuel was trying to hire an attorney Thursday, and advisers had told him not to speak with reporters.

In the wake of Hatfield’s allegations this week, Emanuel was suspended indefinitely from the football team by Coach Larry Smith, who said in a statement released Tuesday that Emanuel will miss part of the 1987 season “and could miss all of the season depending on the outcome of an investigation.”

But a spokesman in the USC athletic department said that Sunday’s alleged incident was not the only reason Emanuel was suspended from the team.

“It was just the last straw,” said Tim Tessalone, USC sports information director. “He was walking a fine line with Smith. Smith told him, ‘If you do anything else, you’re on probation with me.’ ”

Tessalone said that Smith was unhappy with Emanuel’s commitment and performance. Smith said at the end of spring practice last month that he believed Emanuel was about 15 pounds overweight.

Smith was unavailable for comment, but he was quoted in the Pasadena Star-News Thursday as saying that Emanuel was already on “football probation” for missing a workout and skipping study table during spring practice.

Jim Dennis, vice president in charge of student affairs, said his office will investigate Hatfield’s allegations and that it has the power to expel Emanuel if it deems such action appropriate.

Dennis said Thursday that his office hopes to complete its investigation within the next two weeks.

The incident involving Hatfield allegedly occurred early Sunday morning at the home of Hilton Green, chairman of an advisory committee on athletics at USC and a close friend of USC Athletic Director Mike McGee.

Green was not present at the party, which was organized by his daughter, Wendy, a receptionist in the USC athletic department, according to a USC spokesman.

In a complaint filed with the sheriff’s office, Hatfield said that Emanuel pinched her on the buttocks. Hatfield, 23, told sheriff’s investigators that she asked Emanuel to stop pinching her, but that he persisted. She said that she then threw beer in his face.

Hatfield said that Emanuel then punched her in the face, knocking her unconscious, sheriff’s detective Joe Nunez said.