USC quarterback Mark Sanchez, who was battling to become the Trojans' starter, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of sexual assault.
Los Angeles Police Department officers took the 19-year-old redshirt freshman into custody about 4 p.m., after a female USC student told police she had been sexually assaulted by Sanchez in the early morning. Sanchez, from Mission Viejo, was arrested at the Cardinal Gardens apartment complex at 3131 McClintock Ave.
Police would not say where the alleged assault occurred.
The security system at a nearby club Sanchez visited late Tuesday night shows him leaving at 12:59 a.m. Wednesday.
"He left by himself," a club employee said. "There was no girl with him."
Sanchez was taken to LAPD's Parker Center in downtown Los Angeles. As of late Wednesday, his bail had been set at $200,000, according to Officer Jason Lee of the LAPD. Lee said Sanchez would be "booked very soon."
Police said the woman was not hospitalized.
USC Coach Pete Carroll was out of town on a recruiting trip but said he was aware of Sanchez's arrest.
"We're just hearing about this," Carroll said in a statement released by the university Wednesday evening. "We'll cooperate fully and do whatever we can to assist. At this point, this is being handled by the university's student affairs office and we'll follow along with whatever action the university takes."
Michael L. Jackson, USC's vice president of student affairs, said that Sanchez would be put on "interim suspension" while the case was pending, meaning that the athlete cannot attend class or participate in other student activities until the university reviews the situation further.
"We need to understand better what's going on before we can make a determination of anything," Jackson said.
"We take these things very seriously. ... We don't know the facts, but the nature of the allegations are serious."
Spring semester classes conclude Friday and final exams are May 3-10. USC officials said it was too early to determine whether Sanchez's eligibility for the 2006 season, which begins Sept. 2 at Arkansas, would be jeopardized.
Witnesses to the arrest said the area just north of campus was swarming with police and campus safety officers as Sanchez and sophomore linebacker Brian Cushing were led away from Building E in the sprawling complex.
Cushing was released at the scene.
