LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Latest on police Las Vegas seeking a DNA sample from Cristiano Ronaldo in a investigation of a 2009 rape claim (all times Pacific):
2:40 p.m.
Las Vegas police say investigators are asking Italian authorities to obtain a DNA sample from soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo in an ongoing rape investigation.
The department issued a statement Thursday confirming “an official request” was sent to Italy. That’s where Ronaldo plays for a soccer club in Turin.
The police statement does not specify if a warrant was issued. Department spokeswoman Laura Meltzer declined additional comment.
Ronaldo’s lawyer, Peter S. Christiansen in Las Vegas, downplayed the development and denied a Nevada woman’s allegation that Ronaldo raped her in Las Vegas in 2009.
The lawyer says sex was consensual and evidence collection is standard practice.
A police sexual assault investigation was closed in 2009 but reopened last August, before the woman filed a civil lawsuit in Nevada claiming that Ronaldo raped her.
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1:35 p.m.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s lawyer says U.S. investigators are seeking DNA from Cristiano Ronaldo in their investigation of a Nevada woman’s allegation that the international soccer star raped her in his Las Vegas hotel penthouse in 2009.
Attorney Peter S. Christiansen in Las Vegas provided no additional detail on Thursday. He did not immediately confirm a Wall Street Journal report citing an unidentified source saying that a warrant was sent to Italy to compel Ronaldo to submit a DNA sample.
Las Vegas police spokeswoman Laura Meltzer declined comment about the police investigation.
It was closed in 2009 but reopened days before the woman filed a civil lawsuit in Nevada in September claiming that Ronaldo raped her.
Ronaldo through his lawyers have denied the rape allegation.
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