Sports

Suspicious Circumstances Surround Taylor Break In

MIAMI (CBS4) ― Miami-Dade Police continue to investigate the suspicious circumstances surrounding Monday's break in at the home of Washington Redskins' safety Sean Taylor to see if they are connected to a second break in just a week before.

Officers were sent to Taylor's Palmetto Bay home around 1:45 a.m. Monday after receiving a call from Taylor's girlfriend that he had been shot.

Family friend and attorney Richard Sharpstein said Taylor's girlfriend told him the couple was awakened by loud noises, and Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection. She said someone then broke through their bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor. Taylor's 1-year-old daughter, Jackie, was also in the house at the time, but neither she nor Taylor's girlfriend were injured. Sharpstein said investigators discovered that the phone lines to the home on Old Cutler Road had been cut, and Taylor's girlfriend had to use her cell phone to call 911.

"It could have been a possible burglary; it could have been a possible robbery," Miami-Dade Police Lt. Nancy Perez said. "It has not been confirmed as yet."

The safety was hospitalized in Miami early Monday in critical condition. He underwent 6 hours of surgery and doctors said they were encouraged late Monday night when Taylor squeezed a nurse's hand. But Sharpstein said he was told Taylor never regained consciousness after being transported to the hospital and that he wasn't sure how he had squeezed the nurse's hand.

"Maybe he was trying to say goodbye or something," Sharpstein said.

Monday's attack came about a week after another break in.

Police records show someone had broken into Taylor's house between 7 p.m. Nov. 17 and midnight Nov. 18. During that incident, investigators found that a front window had been pried open, drawers in Taylor's home have been rifled through, and a kitchen knife had been left on a bed.

Click Here to read the police report concerning this break in.

Taylor was no stranger to the law.

In June 2005, he was arrested on felony charges for allegedly brandishing a gun at people he believed had stolen his all-terrain vehicle. He later pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault and battery.

Ryan Hill, one of the group who claimed that they were threatened by Taylor, filed suit in the incident. He claimed Taylor struck him several times during a fight and pointed a gun at him.

Sharpstein said those claims are lies.

After the incident, Taylor drove to a friend's house in West Perrine. Court records say soon after he arrived Taylor's SUV was peppered with bullets in a drive by shooting. No one was hit and no suspects were ever taken into custody.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)