Phillips Faces Arrest Over Trial No-Show

A Los Angeles judge issued an arrest warrant for former NFL running back Lawrence Phillips, who did not show up Tuesday for his trial on charges of allegedly threatening and injuring his live-in girlfriend.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Bernard Kamins issued the no-bail warrant after Phillips, 25, failed to appear at the Airport Branch Courthouse, where he was awaiting trial.

Phillips’ attorney, Eric D. Bates, could not be reached for comment.

Phillips was charged earlier this year with felony counts of corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant, making a terrorist threat, conspiring to dissuade a witness and false imprisonment.

The former Nebraska star and first-round draft pick of the St. Louis Rams also is charged with misdemeanor vandalism and firearm counts.

He was arrested May 27 at his Beverly Hills home about eight hours after police responded to a domestic violence call there.

*

UCLA defensive end Asi Faoa pleaded not guilty to felony charges of mayhem and assault at his arraignment in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Trial was set for Jan. 31, with a pretrial hearing Jan. 18, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said.

Faoa, 19, is accused of having thrown a punch that caused brain damage to UCLA student Rodrigo Dezubiria at a Westwood party last April.

The 6-foot-4, 268-pound Faoa remains free on $25,000 bail, as he has all season, and he is expected to play for the Bruins in the Dec. 29 Sun Bowl against Wisconsin.

*

Former NFL player Rae Carruth was never teased about his girlfriend being a stripper because talk of wives and girlfriends were off-limits in the locker room, former teammate William Floyd testified in Carruth’s murder trial in Charlotte, N.C.

Prosecution witness Candace Smith had testified that the players did tease Carruth.

Floyd’s testimony came as the defense focused on character in its second day of testimony. Carruth is charged with first-degree murder, accused of arranging the shooting of Cherica Adams.

*

Jonathan Pittman, 22, whose two catches keyed Brigham Young’s winning touchdown drive against Utah last month, was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving in Provo. . . . Standout Louisiana Lafayette pitcher Justin Gabriel, 21, was thrown off the team after his arrest on possession of marijuana with intent to distribute at Lafayette, La. Authorities said they found more than two pounds of marijuana, with a street value of about $14,000, in his apartment.

Boxing

Tony Ayala Jr., whose once-promising middleweight boxing career was cut short by a rape conviction, was shot after he allegedly broke into the home of a female acquaintance in San Antonio.

Ayala was shot in the left shoulder by the 18-year-old woman, whom he had met at his father’s San Antonio gym, police said. He was listed in stable condition at University Health Center.

Police planned to file burglary charges against Ayala, who resumed his boxing career in August 1999 after spending 16 years in prison on a rape charge.

Ayala, a registered sex offender, could face up to 99 years in prison if convicted of burglary.

Former world bantamweight champion Wayne McCullough will reapply for boxing licenses in the United States and Britain even though he discovered in October that he has had a cyst on his brain for at least five years, said his wife, Cheryl, also his manager.

McCullough’s decision was based on a doctor in Oxford, England, saying the nature of the cyst meant he wouldn’t be under greater risk than other boxers.

Ricky Thomas, a 34-year-old former super-middleweight contender, was charged with throwing a brick through a school bus window, hitting a 6-year-old boy in the face in Albany, N.Y.

College Football

In only his second season as a head coach, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops was chosen the Associated Press coach of the year in balloting by AP member newspapers, TV and radio stations.

Stoops, who guided the Sooners (12-0) to the No. 1 ranking and a shot at their first national championship since 1985, received 41 of the 91 votes in the balloting. South Carolina’s Lou Holtz was second with 19 votes, and Oregon State’s Dennis Erickson was third with 16 votes.

Texas Coach Mack Brown was given a raise, increasing his annual salary from $1 million to $1.45 million, after leading the Longhorns to three consecutive nine-win seasons for the first time since 1981-83. . . . New Mexico gave Coach Rocky Long a three-year contract extension through 2005, the school said. . . . Ohio University promoted defensive coordinator Brian Knorr, 36, to head coach. Knorr, 36, replaces Jim Grobe, named coach at Wake Forest. . . . Tom Amstutz, 45, who has spent 21 years as an assistant at Toledo, was hired as head coach of a Rocket team that went 10-1 this season. He succeeds Gary Pinkel, who left for Missouri.

Miscellany

Golfer Tiger Woods renewed his endorsement contract with American Express, making him a global spokesman for the company until mid-2007.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Woods, 24, originally signed with American Express in 1997. Golf World magazine reported that deal to be worth $26 million over five years.

Meanwhile, Woods is Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsman of the Year”--the first two-time recipient in the 46-year history of the award. He was named in 1996.

Tennis star Venus Williams, 20, is on the verge of signing the richest endorsement deal for a female athlete. USA Today reported that Williams would sign a five-year contract with Reebok worth $40 million. Reebok declined to discuss the terms, pending a Dec. 23 news conference in New York.

A goal in the final minute of the first half by defender Danny Califf earned the Galaxy a 1-0 victory over Puebla of Mexico in a charity fund-raising game in front of 1,812 fans at Cal State Fullerton.