Man Arrested in Attack on Ice-Skater Kerrigan : Crime: News reports say he confessed involvement. Warrants are issued for at least two more people.

Arrest warrants were issued Thursday in the attack on Olympic figure skating star Nancy Kerrigan and one man was taken into custody, authorities said.

The FBI arrested the suspect at Portland (Ore.) Airport on a flight from Phoenix, but Doug Roberts, Port of Portland spokesman, refused to give any details about the man.

Local news reports identified him as Derrick Smith of Phoenix, and described him as the second man to confess his involvement in the alleged conspiracy to injure Kerrigan, 24, of Stoneham, Mass. Earlier, Harding’s bodyguard, Shawn Eric Eckardt, was said to have acknowledged a role in the attack.

ABC news named a Portland man, Shane Stant, as suspected of being the attacker who hit Kerrigan in the leg Jan. 6. at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit. The assailant escaped.

Deputy Police Chief Benny Napoleon in Detroit acknowledged that warrants had been issued but did not specify the number or who had been named in them. Sources familiar with the investigation told The Times that Portland authorities expected to arrest two more men later Thursday.

The plot reportedly involved Tonya Harding’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, Eckardt, and several others. Earlier Thursday, Boston television station WCVB reported that warrants were issued in Portland for Eckardt, Smith and Stant. The station also reported Harding was named in the warrants, but authorities denied that.

Harding, 23, won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships last week after her chief rival, Kerrigan, was forced to withdraw because of the leg injury suffered in the attack. Harding has denied any link to the assault, calling the allegations ludicrous.

“You guys know me better than that,” Harding said earlier this week. “I had my hopes for a long time of competing against Nancy and proving I’m as good as her and better.”

Harding and Gillooly were divorced Aug. 28, according to Columbia County court documents, but they later reconciled and have lived together since October.

The latest developments led investigators to three states--Michigan, Oregon and Arizona--in an effort to break the case.

Eckardt, the bodyguard, told authorities that Gillooly asked him to arrange last week’s attack, unidentified law enforcement sources said. The suspects were expected to be arrested for conspiracy to commit an assault, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Although Kerrigan, the 1992 bronze medal winner in Albertville, France, and the favorite to win the gold in Lillehammer, Norway, next month, could not compete last week, she was later added to the U.S. Olympic team. She and Harding will represent the United States.

Kerrigan’s injured right knee showed improvement after two days of physical therapy, Dr. Mahlon Bradley said in Boston.

At the Detroit news conference, Napoleon said a woman from out of state called the Police Department on Saturday and insisted on speaking with him.

Napoleon said the woman indicated that she heard a conversation regarding the planned assault on Kerrigan several months ago.

Napoleon said the woman identified about four people, and he gave the names to the FBI. The woman said she listened to a tape of the conversation a few months ago.

The plot allegedly involved Eckardt, Gillooly, an Eckardt acquaintance in Phoenix and a Portland man who attacked Kerrigan for $100,000.

Detroit police said they recovered a collapsible metal baton, believed to be the weapon. A Detroit resident found it in a trash can behind the arena, police said.

Harvey Schiller, executive director of the U.S. Olympic Committee, said Harding’s participation in the Olympics would not be affected because “there’s no indication that Tonya’s involved at all.”

The U.S. Figure Skating Assn. in Colorado Springs issued a statement saying it would not comment on speculation about the investigation.

Times staff writer Ronald J. Ostrow contributed to this story.