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In a story that was first reported by TMZ and later confirmed by the Miami Police Department, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is apparently under investigation in connection with an alleged incident in Miami on April 1st. TMZ's report indicates that this incident is a sexual assault and that the investigation is in its "beginning stages".
UPDATE 4/11: The police have denied that there are any specific allegations at this time, saying "There's no evidence of a crime or a sexual assault. This report is simply an incident report taken at the woman's request."
No charges have yet been filed in this situation, and more details will likely be released gradually over the next few days. The 49ers have released a statement on the situation, saying:
The 49ers organization is aware of the recent media report regarding Colin Kaepernick and is in the process of gathering the pertinent facts.
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Kaepernick is not the only 49er who is apparently involved in this investigation, either:
#49ers receiver Quinton Patton and #Seahawks receiver Ricardo Lockette also are part of the investigation by Miami Police.
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) April 10, 2014
Barrows also notes that the incident in question took place at Lockette's Miami apartment.
It is critical to note that we do not know what each player's involvement consists of. It is still possible that the investigation does not directly implicate criminal activity on their part. Still, having a high-profile player like Kaepernick to be even mentioned in the same sentence as the words "sexual assault" will cause an unwanted distraction for the 49ers for the immediate future.
UPDATE: Niners Nation was able to get the full police report of the incident, which does not directly allege a sexual assault, but certainly poses some strange questions. I encourage you to read for yourself the details of the situation.
UPDATE 4/11: On Friday morning, Kaepernick himself responded to the TMZ report, strongly denying that he was involved in any wrongdoing:
(1/3) The charges made in the TMZ story and other stories I’ve seen are completely wrong. They make things up about me that never happened.
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) April 11, 2014