Dancer: Irvin Used Threats, Drugs With Her

Michael Irvin strip-searched and threatened a topless dancer whose testimony he feared in his drug-possession case, the dancer, Rachelle Smith, testified Friday in Dallas.

Outside the presence of the jury, Smith, 24, testified that the Dallas Cowboy receiver made her remove her clothes and searched her thoroughly on two occasions after she testified before a Dallas County grand jury on March 24.

“He said, ‘If I suspect that you’re wired or that you’ve . . . me, you’ll never see John or the light of day again,’ ” Smith said.

John is Johnnie Hernandez, a former Dallas policeman accused of soliciting a man to kill Irvin after the threat.

Earlier, Smith, who was testifying under a grant of immunity, said that on three occasions--Feb. 5, 12 and 19--she and Angela Beck, a topless dancer who was arrested with Irvin on March 4, had checked into an Irving, Texas, motel and were joined by Irvin, who brought marijuana and cocaine and watched the two women have sex.

Irvin would chop up crack cocaine and rolled chips of the drug into marijuana cigarettes, which he then smoked, she said.

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Jeb Tyler, 23, from Spencerport, N.Y., sued the Phoenix Suns’ Charles Barkley in Cleveland, seeking $50,000 in damages from him and the bar where they got into a fight early Sunday while Barkley was in town with the men’s Olympic basketball team.

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A Chicago judge approved settlement of a second paternity lawsuit involving Chicago Bull forward Scottie Pippen. Details were not disclosed, but the lawyer for 17-month-old Sierra Marcell Pippen and Pippen’s former fiance, Yvette DeLeone, said it included child support, school and college expenses, life insurance, medical expenses and day care.

A similar settlement was made last year for Taylor Pippen, born to model Sonya Roby in 1994.

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A San Diego judge threw out a jury’s $50 award to a table dancer who claimed she was grabbed in the crotch and injured by St. Louis Ram defensive end Leslie O’Neal. . . . Steffi Graf’s father, Peter Graf, will go on trial in September on tax-evasion charges, the Mannheim, Germany, district court announced.

Football

The New England Patriots signed their first-round draft choice, receiver Terry Glenn, to a six-year, $12-million ($5 million guaranteed) contract, and owner Bob Kraft then had a heart-to-heart talk with him, suggesting he drive more carefully.

Glenn pleaded not guilty Thursday to traffic citations in connection with an accident near the Ohio State campus in which police said he was driving 60 mph in a 35-mph zone.

Indianapolis re-signed unrestricted free-agent center Kirk Lowdermilk, an 11-year veteran who has started every Colt game for the last three seasons, to a one-year contract. . . . The Jacksonville Jaguars signed Illinois linebacker Kevin Hardy, the second overall pick in the NFL draft. No terms were disclosed. . . . William Roaf, an offensive tackle who has played in two Pro Bowls, signed an eight-year contract with the New Orleans Saints. . . . The Minnesota Vikings signed free agent All-Pro cornerback Dale Carter to an offer sheet, and the Kansas City Chiefs have one week to match it to retain him.

Tennis

Leander Paes of India upset top-seeded Byron Black of Zimbabwe, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, setting up an all-unseeded semifinal round in the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I.

Paes will face Nicolas Pereira of Venezuela, who defeated Andrei Olhovskiy of Russia, 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-4). Daniel Nestor of Canada will play Grant Stafford of South Africa in the other semifinal.

Stefan Edberg moved another step toward his first Swedish Open title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over fellow Swede Thomas Johansson in a quarterfinal match at Bastad.

Top-seeded defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov defeated Spain’s Fransisco Clavet, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), in the quarterfinals of the Swiss Open in Gstaad.

Miscellany

FIFA’s world all-star game lost some of its luster when Romario, Gianluca Vialli, Paul Ince, David Ginola and Rene Higuita were dropped from the roster. FIFA added Italian midfielder Roberto Donadoni, Portuguese defender Fernando Couto and Chilean goalkeeper Nelson Tapia to the roster for Sunday’s game at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., against Brazil.

Mr. Billiards in Baldwin Park will play host to a wheelchair nine-ball pool tournament today and Sunday. Information: (213) 753-5177.

Auto Racing

Andre Ribeiro took the provisional pole for the Toronto Molson-Indy, turning his fast lap of 110.616 mph in his Lola-Honda between two collisions with the same wall on the 1.784-mile 11-turn downtown track. . . . Ricky Craven turned a record lap of 129.379 mph into the pole position for Sunday’s Jiffy Lube 300 Winston Cup race at Loudon, N.H.