State Police Investigators Swarm Home Of Patriots' Aaron Hernandez
BOSTON (CBS/AP) — More than a dozen State Police investigators swarmed the home of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez on Saturday in connection with the death of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd.
A dozen police cars were pulled up to the football player's home in North Attleboro just before 2 p.m. Members of the K-9 and State Police Crime Lab units were seen going into the home, while others remained outside.
The large group of media staking out the scene was being kept back from the property. Reporters on scene said it appeared police were executing a search warrant.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe reports
Investigators swarm Aaron Hernandez's home
On Friday, Attleboro District Court clerk magistrate Mark E. Sturdy said three search warrants were issued in the investigation earlier in the week but have not yet been made public.
While Sturdy said no arrest warrant had been filed in state courts for Hernandez, WBZ NewsRadio 1030 reported on Friday that one had been issued on an obstruction of justice charge.
It was not immediately clear whether police planned to serve that warrant on Saturday.
Family members of Lloyd said on Friday he and Hernandez were friends and that the two were together the day Lloyd was murdered. A jogger found Lloyd's body in an industrial park Monday, a mile from the home of Hernandez.
Family members said Friday the two men were friends who were together the night Lloyd died. They said Lloyd had been dating Hernandez's fiancee's sister for about two years.
Police searched in and around Hernandez's sprawling home in North Attleborough earlier in the week, which is not far from where the Patriots practice. Hernandez's attorney Michael Fee has acknowledged media reports about the previous state police search of Hernandez's home but said he wouldn't have any comment on it.
Police in nearby Providence, R.I., said they had assisted Massachusetts state police and North Attleborough police with activity related to the Hernandez investigation at a strip club named Club Desire. It was unclear if they believed Lloyd and Hernandez might have been at the club in the days before Lloyd died. A reporter was escorted out of the club Friday afternoon before she could speak with employees or patrons.
The Bristol County district attorney has not released any information, other than saying Lloyd's death was being treated as a homicide.
Family members say Lloyd, 27, was never in trouble.
"I want the person that killed my son to be brought to justice," said Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward. "That's my first-born child, my only boy child, and they took him away from me. ... I wouldn't trade him for all the money in the world. And if money could bring him back I would give this house up to bring my son back. Nothing can bring my son back."
Family members said they had heard from Lloyd's girlfriend but not from Hernandez after Lloyd's death.
Hernandez was gone from his home for most of the day Friday, including when two state police officers knocked on his door. He returned home with his attorney around 5 p.m.
Patriots spokesman Stacey James has said the team does not anticipate commenting publicly during the police investigation. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was waiting for the legal process to take its course.
Meanwhile, CytoSport, a Benicia, Calif.-based company that makes Muscle Milk and other supplements for athletes, said Friday it was ending Hernandez's endorsement contract, effective immediately, because of the investigation.
The Patriots drafted Hernandez out of Florida in 2010. Since then, he has combined with Rob Gronkowski to form one of the top tight end duos in the NFL. He missed 10 games last season with an ankle injury and had shoulder surgery in April but is expected to be ready for training camp. Last summer, the Patriots gave him a five-year contract worth $40 million.
Hernandez said after he was drafted that he had failed a drug test while with the Gators and had been upfront with NFL teams about the issue.
Earlier this week, a man filed a lawsuit in South Florida claiming Hernandez shot him in the face after they argued at a strip club there. Alexander Bradley's lawsuit accuses Hernandez of negligence, among other things, suggesting that the shooting may have been accidental.
Hernandez's attorney did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
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Associated Press writers Curt Anderson in Miami, Michelle R. Smith in Attleboro, Rodrique Ngowi in Boston and Erika Niedowski in Providence, R.I., contributed to this report.
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