By COLLEEN CURRY and CLAYTON SANDELL (@Clayton_Sandell)
May 11, 2012
The home of Denver Nuggets center Chris "Birdman" Andersen was raided by detectives in the Internet Crimes Against Children unit of the Douglas County, Colo., sheriff's office Thursday.
Authorities seized his computer and other items and took them to a computer forensics laboratory run by the FBI and local police.
The Sheriff's department said that Andersen's home was searched after a California law enforcement agency tipped off the child crimes unit in February, launching a three-month investigation.
The department would not say what crime they were investigating, but the unit handles crimes including child pornography, child prostitution and child sex tourism, according to its website.
Andersen, who is known for his colorful tattoos, was home and "fully cooperated" with investigators when they showed up at his home this morning to serve the warrant, Douglas County Sheriff's officials said. He practiced earlier that morning with the Nuggets, according to ABC News affiliate KMGH.
For now the Andersen investigation is a local law enforcement case, authorities say. However, local and federal law enforcement officials tell ABC News that the property seized from Andersen's home is being analyzed at the FBI's Rocky Mountain Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory in Centennial, Colo.
The lab is run by the FBI, but also helps out with cases being investigated by state and local agencies.
In a typical case, forensic analysts at the lab will make copies of computer hard drives and begin the painstaking process of looking for evidence that might incriminate--or exonerate--a suspect.
In the Andersen case, officials say, that process could take several weeks.
May 11, 2012
The home of Denver Nuggets center Chris "Birdman" Andersen was raided by detectives in the Internet Crimes Against Children unit of the Douglas County, Colo., sheriff's office Thursday.
Authorities seized his computer and other items and took them to a computer forensics laboratory run by the FBI and local police.
The Sheriff's department said that Andersen's home was searched after a California law enforcement agency tipped off the child crimes unit in February, launching a three-month investigation.
The department would not say what crime they were investigating, but the unit handles crimes including child pornography, child prostitution and child sex tourism, according to its website.
Andersen, who is known for his colorful tattoos, was home and "fully cooperated" with investigators when they showed up at his home this morning to serve the warrant, Douglas County Sheriff's officials said. He practiced earlier that morning with the Nuggets, according to ABC News affiliate KMGH.
For now the Andersen investigation is a local law enforcement case, authorities say. However, local and federal law enforcement officials tell ABC News that the property seized from Andersen's home is being analyzed at the FBI's Rocky Mountain Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory in Centennial, Colo.
The lab is run by the FBI, but also helps out with cases being investigated by state and local agencies.
In a typical case, forensic analysts at the lab will make copies of computer hard drives and begin the painstaking process of looking for evidence that might incriminate--or exonerate--a suspect.
In the Andersen case, officials say, that process could take several weeks.
