Rodgers Denies Pointing Gun -- Seahawk Admits Only Kicking `Repo Man'

Seahawk Tyrone Rodgers says he kicked a "repo man" who was trying to take his 1986 Mercedes because he didn't know if the man was armed and wanted to immobilize him.

Rodgers told a Superior Court jury yesterday that by subduing tow-truck driver Gary Hall, he was able to confront Hall's helper (Percy Bair), who was armed with a revolver but who then "backed up."

Rodgers contradicted the Monday testimony of Hall by saying he never pointed his pistol at Hall.

Rodgers, 25, is charged with two counts of second-degree assault in stopping the attempted repossession of his car March 23 at a Federal Way car-stereo store.

The ex-Husky testified he had a permit to carry a pistol because a mentally ill Los Angeles woman had threatened to kill him and relatives.

Robert Agnew, who works for NFL security, testified there was extra security when the Seahawks played the Raiders in Los Angeles in November. Agnew said the woman "attempted to come on the field as part of the halftime entertainment," but was prevented from doing so.

Rodgers testified he had no reason to believe the car was subject to repossession because he had begun purchasing it for $25,000 from Terrance Powe, a former high-school and UW teammate.

Powe testified yesterday he bought the car from an Ohio man named Tancred Smith three or four years ago. Powe said he has a bill of sale but that he lost the title.

Powe disputed the Monday testimony of Hall that a man who identified himself as Tony Woods (an ex-Seahawk) had prevented reposession of the car in December, 1992. Powe said Woods had nothing to do with the car.

An Ohio woman, Minnie Smith, testified Monday that she hired Hall to repossess the car because she had given the vehicle to a nephew to sell in 1990 but never received money.

Rodgers said he left the scene to "defuse" the situation. He admitted lying to a member of the Seahawks' public-relations staff the next day when he said he wasn't involved in the incident.

The case was expected to go to the jury today in the court of Judge Ann Schindler.