Jury Refuses to Indict Patriot Fryar : Football: Charges against the wide receiver and another man involved in a parking lot fracas have been declined.

A grand jury today refused to indict New England Patriots wide receiver Irving Fryar for carrying a pistol in Rhode Island without a permit.

The Providence County grand jury also declined to indict William Earley, who was alleged to have assaulted Patriots player Hart Lee Dykes during an early morning scuffle outside a Providence nightclub on Oct. 10.

Fryar said after the incident that he saw a bleeding Dykes on the ground outside the Club Shalimar, and “did what I felt I had to do.”

Fryar, 28, said he got a handgun from his truck, put it in his boot and returned to the scene. The police report said the crowd scattered when he pointed the gun.

Providence police charged Fryar with carrying a 9-millimeter Smith & Wesson, which was registered in Massachusetts, without a Rhode Island permit.

Fryar’s attorney, Peter DiBiase, said he had not yet spoken with Fryar, who was at practice in Foxboro, Mass.

“I think he found himself that night in a very difficult situation and the grand jury absolved him,” DiBiase said.

It is not a violation of state law for someone with a valid permit from another state to transport a gun through Rhode Island, the attorney general’s office said.

Fryar faced a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted of the felony. Both he and Dykes were fined an estimated $1,000 for missing team meetings and practices because of the fracas.

Fryar suffered an eight-stitch gash in the brawl. Dykes, 24, was hit in his left eye and hospitalized for a day. He later underwent surgery to relieve pressure that had built up in the eye.

Dykes missed six games before playing Sunday against Kansas City in what became the Patriots’ 10th straight loss. The Patriots, who were 1-4 on Oct. 10, are now 1-11.

Police said they believed that Dykes was hit with a crutch and arrested the 6-6 Earley, who was on crutches with a torn Achilles’ tendon at the time of the incident.

Earley was on probation for robbery convictions in 1981 and 1982 when the incident occurred. The club’s manager, Ed Imondi, denied Earley worked for him. But witnesses and employees told police that he was a bouncer at Shalimar.

On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Richard Israel sentenced Earley to serve 18 months at the state prison for violating the terms of his probation by being involved in the disturbance.

Israel said Earley may not have committed the felony assault, but he believed that Earley had incited and orchestrated the disturbance, the attorney general’s office said.

Dykes testified that he and Fryar stopped by the club because he wanted to talk to someone about buying a radio station.