Rams’ Little Faces Charges in Fatal Accident

Criminal charges were being sought Thursday against St. Louis Ram linebacker Leonard Little, accused of getting drunk at a party before his car was involved in a wreck that killed a 47-year-old woman.

Little’s blood-alcohol content was .19, police said, nearly twice the legal limit of .10, when the sport utility vehicle he was driving crashed into a car driven by Susan Gutweiler in St. Louis on Monday night. Gutweiler died Tuesday.

The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office was reviewing the case Thursday, a police spokesman said. At the least, it’s expected that Little will be charged with driving while intoxicated. He could face a charge of vehicular manslaughter, punishable by up to seven years in prison.

“It’s a tragic accident, a tragic accident,” Ram Coach Dick Vermeil said. “Who’s to say he’s at fault for the death? All we know is he had too much to drink.”

Little remained on leave from the Rams while the investigation continued.

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Kansas City Chief defensive end Leslie O’Neal has been ordered to pay $50 for sexual battery against a topless dancer.

The 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego reinstated the penalty, which was the original verdict of a jury, earlier this week. The court agreed that former dancer Christy Palomino Barsoom should receive $50 from O’Neal.

In her lawsuit against O’Neal, Barsoom claimed that he grabbed her hard enough to cause her pain after she exchanged insults with a friend of his one night in April 1995, when O’Neal played for the San Diego Chargers.

Boxing

The heavyweight unification fight between Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis could be headed for Madison Square Garden in New York instead of Las Vegas.

The British domestic news agency, the Press Assn., said that Madison Square Garden was the site with March 13 the likely date. Holyfield, the World Boxing Assn. and International Boxing Federation champion, has signed for the bout. World Boxing Council champion Lewis is expected to sign soon.

Tennis

Top-seeded Venus Williams opened her bid to win the Kremlin Cup in Moscow by defeating Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, 6-3, 6-1, in their second-round match. Second-seeded Monica Seles also advanced in the $1-million tournament, defeating Barbara Schett of Germany, 6-3, 6-4. . . . Pete Sampras advanced to the quarterfinals at the Lyon Grand Prix, firing 10 aces in a 6-2, 6-4 second-round victory over Todd Woodbridge of Australia. Third-seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile also advanced by defeating Nicolas Escude of France, 6-2, 6-3. . . . Second-seeded Andre Agassi beat Magnus Norman of Sweden, 6-2, 7-5, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Czech Indoor tournament at Ostrava. In another match, Martin Damm of the Czech Republic defeated fourth-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Miscellany

The U.S. Soccer Federation has signed a four-year agreement with ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 to broadcast a minimum of 64 men’s and women’s U.S. national team games through 2002. The agreement calls for ESPN and ESPN2 to present six games each a year and ABC four games a year. Included is coverage of all 32 matches in the June 19-July 10 FIFA Women’s World Cup in the U.S.

The Chicago Bulls have re-signed Tex Winter to his 52nd year as a pro or major college basketball coach. Winter, 76, will mark his 14th season as a Bull assistant coach when the NBA lockout ends.

Horse breeder Pete Valenti, who raised hundreds of thoroughbreds at his Mira Loma Farms ranch, died at age 65 of complications after heart bypass surgery at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange.

Mike Bliss, the lap record-holder at Phoenix International Raceway, edged NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points leader Jack Sprague to win the pole position for the GM Goodwrench-AC Delco 300.