May 6, 2009 9:30 pm US/Central
Woman Connected To Nowitzki Arrested For Fraud
By JD Miles and Jack Fink
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
A woman who police say is connected to Dallas Mavericks' star Dirk Nowitzki has been arrested on fraud charges at his Preston Hollow home.
Dallas police officers arrested 37-year-old Cristal Taylor Wednesday morning at Nowitzki's house on a fraud warrant. She remained in the Dallas County jail Wednesday afternoon.
The Dallas Mavericks and Nowitzki have declined a comment, but sources say Nowitzki will address the situation Thursday at the team's practice.
Sources tell CBS 11 News that a private investigator hired by Nowitzki told police that Nowitzki and Taylor have some sort of relationship, but the nature of that relationship is unclear. Nowitzki hired the private investigator to check into her background, sources say, and the investigator found that she was using an alias.
Kim Leach, a spokeswoman for the Dallas County Sheriff's Office, tells CBS 11 News that Taylor has at least eight aliases: Chrystal Ann Taylor, Crystal Ann Taylor, Debra Johnson, Shana Mancini, Krista Santiago, Crystal Ann Santiago, Cristal Westerhaus and Crista A. Westerhays.
Dallas Sheriff's office records show Taylor has an outstanding warrant for theft of service from the Beaumont area and one for a probation violation from St. Charles County, Missouri.
Sources say the FBI is also involved in this case.
The incident comes at a critical time for Nowitzki and the Mavericks, who are down 2-0 in their second-round playoff series with the Denver Nuggets.
MAY 7 UPDATE: Nowitzki is reportedly engaged to Taylor. Click here for more.
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