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Witnesses Reportedly Dispute Assault Claim Against 49ers' Crabtree

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Two witnesses have disputed claims that San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree sexually assaulted a woman at a downtown San Francisco hotel after the team won the NFC Championship, according to CBS 5 and KCBS insider Phil Matier in his San Francisco Chronicle column on Wednesday.

Matier and fellow columnist Andrew Ross attributed their report to an unidentified law enforcement source. The source said that three women had joined the 25-year-old Crabtree to party in a room at the W Hotel. One of the three women told police she was assaulted, but the newspaper said the other two women who were present in the room maintained the attack never happened.

As a result of the witnesses, a top NFL official told ESPN that the 49ers organization "highly doubted" prosecutors would opt to bring any charges against Crabtree stemming from the incident.

Matier and Ross also reported that police had found no physical evidence to support the assault claim, and indicated that the alleged victim waited four days before contacting authorities.

Despite the fact that the two witnesses are said to backup the version of events that Crabtree told investigators, the San Jose Mercury News quoted an SFPD official as saying they were still continuing to investigate the assault claim.

(Copyright 2013 CBS San Francisco. All rights reserved.)

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