Bryant Called 911 at Home

Hours after Kobe Bryant was questioned by detectives about his alleged sexual assault of a 19-year-old woman in Colorado, the Laker guard placed a 911 call from his Newport Beach home, prompting paramedics to treat a female at the house, authorities said Friday.

Bryant made the call at 12:25 a.m. on July 3. The call disconnected before he spoke to a police dispatcher, but the dispatcher returned the call to Bryant’s home and spoke to three people, including Bryant, before summoning firefighters, paramedics and police to the home, Newport Beach Police Lt. Tom Gazsi said.

Officials refused to reveal the identity of the woman who was treated at the home. Bryant lives with his wife, Vanessa, and 6-month-old daughter.

“The need for medical assistance was for someone other than Mr. Bryant. It was evident that no crime occurred and no police assistance was needed,” Gazsi said.

The 911 call was the second made from the home within a four-month period, said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman, who said the same female required medical assistance in both calls. Shulman would not confirm or deny if Vanessa Bryant was the person treated.

On March 5 at 6:23 p.m., Newport Beach police and fire officials responded to the home after a 911 call placed from a friend of Bryant’s, officials said.

Bryant had instructed the friend to make the call, officials said.

The March 5 call also involved a medical issue that did not involve criminal conduct, Gazsi said.

Paramedics evaluated the woman at Bryant’s home that evening and transported her to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, said Vickie Cleary, emergency medical services manager for the Newport Beach Fire Department. Paramedics spent an hour at the house before taking the female to the hospital, according to a report. The report did not identify the female who was treated.

In the July 3 call, a Newport Beach Fire Department report indicated that paramedics found a female lying in bed at Bryant’s home. The paramedics assessed her condition during a 23-minute visit, but she declined further treatment or transportation to a hospital. Acting on the advice of Newport Beach assistant city attorney Robin Clausen, police declined Friday to release a copy or transcript of the 911 conversation.

“There was no criminal conduct,” Shulman said. “It was probably more of a medical condition -- a medical condition versus an injury.”

Pamela Mackey and Harold Haddon, Bryant’s Colorado-based attorneys, did not immediately return phone messages left at their office and homes Friday.

Bryant is charged with felony sexual assault for allegedly raping an employee of an Edwards, Colo., resort on June 30, where he was staying before undergoing knee surgery at a nearby clinic the next day. He is scheduled to appear at the Eagle County Justice Center for a bond hearing Wednesday and is subject to a prison sentence of four years to life if convicted.

A source in Colorado’s 5th Judicial District Attorney’s office, which is prosecuting Bryant, said Dist. Atty. Mark Hurlbert was previously aware of the Newport Beach 911 call. The source refused to speculate whether it would affect Bryant’s case.

Eagle County Sheriff’s deputies questioned Bryant about the alleged assault into the early morning hours of July 2, obtaining DNA samples from him. He later checked into a Glenwood Springs, Colo., hotel, then boarded a flight leaving the state shortly after 6:15 p.m. Pacific time.

On July 4, Bryant returned to Eagle County to be arrested. Vanessa Bryant accompanied him.

Gazsi said Newport Beach police would not release the 911 tape “because of the medical nature of the calls.”

Said Cleary: “The fire department responded, evaluated and provided treatment on scene for the female.”

Associated Press contributed to this report. Pfeifer reported from Orange County; Pugmire from Eagle, Colo.