Unser Jr. Is Arrested on Domestic Battery Charges

Al Unser Jr. was arrested Tuesday in Indianapolis on charges he hit a woman in the face before leaving her on the side of a highway in the middle of the night.

The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner was released from the Marion County jail after posting a $30,000 bond on preliminary misdemeanor charges of domestic battery and domestic violence. He avoided reporters when he left.

The woman, Jena L. Soto, was found standing next to a guardrail on Interstate 465 at about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. She told police she was Unser’s girlfriend of four years.

Soto, 38, was driving the car because Unser was drunk, she said. She told police she hit Unser first to stop him from trying to shift the gears, and that Unser responded by hitting her in the face.

Unser, 40, was arrested at his motor home on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield. A hearing is scheduled for July 19, Sheriff’s Col. Scott Minier said.

The preliminary charges against Unser are each punishable by up to a year in jail. The Marion County prosecutor’s office will determine whether to file formal charges after police submit the case for review, Minier said.

Soto, of Albuquerque, told police she and Unser had been at a strip club. She said they were arguing and that he repeatedly shifted the gears into neutral and reverse. Soto told police she pulled to the side of the highway after Unser hit her, got out of the vehicle, and that Unser drove away.

Unser first denied knowing Soto, police said. After being told of her accusations, Unser told police Soto had hit him first.

Football

Cincinnati signed free-agent receiver Michael Westbrook to a $4.5-million, three-year contract.

Westbrook had 277 catches for 4,280 yards and 24 touchdowns in seven seasons with the Washington Redskins.

The Bengals released receiver Darnay Scott.

Green Bay agreed to terms on a contract with defensive back Marques Anderson, a second-team All-Pacific 10 Conference selection at UCLA last season and a third-round pick in the April draft.

San Francisco 49er cornerback Michael Rumph was charged with driving under the influence after failing a breathalyzer test after Miami Beach police stopped his vehicle at 4:20 a.m EDT Saturday.

Tennis

Top-seeded James Blake defeated Gabriel Trifu, 6-4, 7-5, in the second round of the Hall of Fame Championships at Newport, R.I. Second-seeded Wayne Arthurs lost to 2001 finalist Martin Lee, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, and third-seeded Julian Knowle defeated Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-2, 6-2.... French Open champion and top-seeded Albert Costa of Spain lost to qualifier Paul Henri Mathieu of France, 6-4, 6-3, in the first round of the Swiss Open at Gstaad. Third-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland defeated Hicham Arazi of Morocco, 6-4, 6-3.... Top-seeded Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain defeated Czech Denisa Chladkova, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, in the first round of the Brussels French Community Championships in Belgium.

Jurisprudence

Fredrick Eugene Greghun, 23, of Utah pleaded guilty to pulling off a bomb hoax at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Greghun was accused of leaving a phone message Feb. 18 with the Federal Aviation Administration warning that a Feb. 26 Delta Air Lines flight would crash into downtown Salt Lake City.

Miscellany

Steve Brooks has been hired by USC as a women’s basketball assistant, Coach Chris Gobrecht said.

Brooks, 48, was the boys’ coach at Los Alamitos High from 1982-99.

Alex Trujillo (22-0, 16 knockouts) of Puerto Rico won a unanimous decision over Juan Valenzuela (15-5, 6 KOs) of Mexico in a super-lightweight bout at the Playboy mansion. The semi-main event between junior-flyweight Mauricio Pastrano (28-3-1, 18 KOs) and Isidro Garcia (22-2-2, 7 KOs) was stopped after two rounds because of a cut on Garcia’s ear and ruled a technical draw.

Sheryl Swoopes scored 24 points and the Comets defeated Seattle, 67-59, in front of 10,051 at Houston for their 10th consecutive WNBA victory.... Stacey Dales-Schuman scored 16 points and host Washington beat Phoenix, 68-54, in front of 15,217.... Sheri Sam scored 23 points to lead Miami over host Charlotte, 66-55, in front of 4,628.

Jason Parker of Omaha, Neb., won the 10-meter air rifle world championship title in a shootoff with Jie Li of China at Lahti, Finland.

The U.S. team won the bronze medal, four points behind Russia, which set a world record with 1,785 points. China was second with 1,784 points.

Mario Andretti is considering becoming a car owner in the CART series. The former Formula One and CART champion told Associated Press he has begun discussions with Newman-Haas Racing, the team for which he drove for 11 years.

T.J. Simers is on vacation.