Complexities Surround Redskins' Taylor

Rolle said he hasn't had a serious conversation with Taylor since the 2003 Hurricanes season ended.

Neighborhood Incident

West Perrine is a low-income, high-crime neighborhood about 16 blocks just south of Miami and less than 20 miles north of Homestead. About 9,000 people, many of them unemployed single parents who receive government assistance, live in the mix of public and private apartment complexes that dominate the area.

At the Cutler Ridge police station about four miles away, officers describe West Perrine as a dangerous place, a neighborhood with high rates of drug trafficking and substance abuse, where reports of assault and battery are commonplace. One officer warned a reporter not to venture there because of the risk of crime on certain blocks.

On the afternoon of June 1, according to the police report, Taylor drove his Yukon Denali into West Perrine because he believed two men from the area had stolen his two all-terrain vehicles, each worth about $7,000. Another car with several of Taylor's friends trailed behind, police said.

Police said that Taylor got out of his car and pointed a gun at two individuals while demanding they return his ATVs. According to a person familiar with the investigation who requested anonymity because the case is still at a sensitive stage, an individual from the car trailing Taylor's pointed an AK-47. No shots were fired, and Taylor soon left, they said. Ten minutes later, he returned with more friends, the police report said.

After returning, Taylor got out of the car and hit one of the individuals with his fist while one of Taylor's friends chased another person with a bat, the police report said. Then Taylor and his group again left the scene and drove to a home in the area belonging to one of Taylor's friends. According to officials familiar with the case who requested anonymity, shots were fired into the home and at Taylor's Denali several minutes later. No one was hurt. Police said they are continuing to look into this incident -- no arrests have been made -- and consider it a separate investigation.

Three days later, Taylor turned himself in to Miami-Dade police after police had described him as a "person of interest" in the incident. He was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, a felony, and one count of simple battery, a misdemeanor. Accompanied by a lawyer, Fred Moldovan, Taylor paid a bond of $16,500 and was released.

A police official said non-residents are rarely brazen enough to enter West Perrine to commit a crime. However, friends said Taylor was familiar with the neighborhood, having grown up at his father's home less than two miles away.

"Sean is known all over South Florida," Rolle said. "I don't think it's the area that got Sean in trouble. Growing up, it's somewhere he's familiar with. He's going to go there before he goes to Washington. Home is home regardless of it's a bad neighborhood or not."

Two witnesses to the June 1 incident, Xavier Gibbs and Terrance Randolph, each 21, said that they knew Taylor casually from when they played football at Palmetto High School. Gibbs and Randolph were advised by their lawyers not to discuss the case, they said. "What's the profit for me?" Gibbs said.

Rocky First Year

Taylor made quite an impact in his first NFL season, using ball-hawking skills and a mean streak to rattle opposing receivers. He added to his aura by inserting sparkling gold false teeth before games. Although his play was at times undisciplined, Taylor emerged as one of the NFL's best rookies and among the league's top safeties. He was voted a first alternate to the Pro Bowl, the second-best showing among Redskins players.

Still, Taylor generated several negative headlines for situations off the field. He hired and fired agents and was fined $25,000 for leaving a mandatory NFL rookie symposium early. He missed the bulk of the Redskins' voluntary offseason workouts last year. Once the season began, the league fined him nearly $20,000 for personal fouls and for violating NFL uniform rules during games.