Man faces questions in slaying of Williams

Parole violator, 23, arrested; second detainee released

Hector Gutierrez And Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 6, 2007 at midnight

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A parole violator arrested Friday evening will be questioned about the killing of Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams, Denver police said in announcing what could be their first big break in the case.

Willie Clark, 23, was taken into custody about 5:45 p.m. by the Denver Police Department's fugitive unit on a warrant for violating his parole, a police spokesman said. Clark was arrested near West 11th Avenue and Osage Street in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

During a hastily called news conference to announce the arrest, police provided few details of why they want to talk to Clark.

Clark is an associate of Brian Kenneth Hicks and a gang member, a source familiar with street gangs told the Rocky Mountain News.

A four-door white 1998 Chevy Tahoe that police had been searching for in connection with the shooting is registered to Hicks, a self-professed gang member being held in Denver County Jail since his Nov. 9 arrest on drug charges.

The abandoned Tahoe, which had been spray-painted black, was found Thursday near Himalaya Road and East 40th Avenue after police received a 911 call.

Hicks, 28, also is charged with attempted murder in a shooting in June 2005. Though Hicks was jailed at the time of the Williams shooting, police tried this week to question him. He declined.

Detectives said they will ask Clark to provide them with any information he may have about the athlete's shooting early on New Year's Day.

At about the same time officers picked up Clark, they detained another man who they thought might be related to the Williams' case but later released him.

Clark has prior convictions for aggravated motor-vehicle theft and misdemeanor reckless endangerment, according to court records.

"At this point in time, we're only talking to him about information he may have related to the homicide," police spokesman Sonny Jackson said, referring to Clark.

"We're not calling him a suspect at this time. We're just talking to him about information he may have relevant to this case," Jackson said. "We're also trying to talk to additional people at this point to see if anyone else has any additional information relevant to this case."

Jackson said he did not know whether Clark may have been in the vehicle with the assailants who opened fire on the stretch Hummer limousine that Williams was riding in. Nor would Jackson confirm whether Clark was one of three men that detectives wanted to question about the shooting.

"The Denver Police Department will not confirm any rumors, speculation about anything to do with this case," Jackson said. "It's a policy that we cannot talk about witness information, suspect information or evidence. So I'm sorry if I can't confirm that for you."

Jackson said Clark's name likely came up for detectives during the past five days, as they investigated the murder and talked to potential witnesses.

"Until we get further into this, we won't know exactly how much he can assist us," Jackson said.

Police have not said whether the shooting was gang-related, but confirmed they were looking into reports of a confrontation between Williams' entourage and another group of men at the Club Safari, where Williams was hosting a New Year's Eve gathering before he was shot to death.

Detectives have talked with more than 50 people, and more interviews are expected to be conducted, including partygoers who were at Club Safari.

"So we're asking if anybody has information to still come forward," Jackson said. "We haven't gotten all the information that we need to see where want to go."

According to published reports, the party was promoted by 3 DEEP Productions, headed by Francois Baptiste and Alvin J. LaCabe III. LaCabe is the son of Denver Manager of Safety Al LaCabe, head of Denver's police, fire and sheriff's departments.

Contacted on his cell phone Friday, the younger LaCabe said: "Sorry. No comment. Have a nice day."

At least 14 bullets may have been fired from a vehicle as it traveled on Speer Boulevard alongside the rented Hummer limousine that the 24-year-old NFL starter and his friends were riding in after leaving the downtown nightspot, witnesses said.

Another man and a young woman riding in the limo also were wounded. They have both been released from the hospital, although the woman still has a bullet lodged in her head, according to her father.

CBS 4 News reporter Brian Maass reported Friday that investigators contacted airlines that fly out of Denver International Airport, asking if any of the three men sought for questioning had booked flights. None of them appears to have left DIA in recent days.

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