Stallworth is charged with DUI manslaughter

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth was charged in Miami on Wednesday with killing a pedestrian last month while driving drunk after a night out at a swank South Beach nightspot.

An arrest warrant charging Stallworth, 28, with DUI manslaughter was filed in the March 14 accident that killed 59-year-old Mario Reyes. If convicted, Stallworth would face as many as 15 years in prison.

Stallworth’s blood-alcohol level after the crash was .126, well above Florida’s legal limit of .08, according to results of a blood test. Stallworth will also be charged with DUI, which carries a possible six-month sentence plus fines and community service for first offenders.

Stallworth, who is expected to surrender in court today, released a statement last month saying he was “grief-stricken” over the accident. Prosecutors said they will ask that he be released on $200,000 bail.

The arraignment for the 22-year-old son of Cal State Northridge basketball Coach Bobby Braswell on felony theft and burglary charges was postponed until April 23. Jeffrey Braswell, along with Northridge player Deon Tresvant, 23, and Phannuel Gbewonyo, 28, allegedly stole more than $6,600 in merchandise from a Porter Ranch Best Buy store on New Year’s Day.

The police officer who pulled out his gun and threatened an NFL player with jail instead of allowing him inside a hospital where his mother-in-law was dying has resigned. Officer Robert Powell had been put on paid leave pending an investigation of the March 18 incident. He had stopped Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats’ car outside Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano, Texas, after the vehicle rolled through a red light.

New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain pleaded guilty to drunk driving and was given probation and a fine. The 23-year-old right-hander was pulled over Oct. 18 by police on the outskirts of Lincoln, Neb. Authorities say his blood-alcohol level was .134. The legal limit in Nebraska is .08.

TENNIS

Williams sisters to face each other

Venus and Serena Williams will meet tonight in the semifinals at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. Top-ranked Serena advanced first, overcoming a dismal start to beat unseeded Li Na, 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2.

She was followed into the semifinals by No. 5-seeded Venus, who beat No. 26 Iveta Benesova, 6-1, 6-4.

In the men’s quarterfinals, No. 2 Roger Federer improved to 17-2 against Andy Roddick with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory. Federer got a break when his passing shot on the next-to-last point clipped the net and hopped over Roddick’s racket for a winner.

BASEBALL

Jones makes Rangers roster

The Texas Rangers cleared room for Andruw Jones on their opening-day roster by releasing Frank Catalanotto.

St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Troy Glaus is expected to miss at least two months after a setback in his rehabilitation from arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

ETC.

Plaschke places among top five

Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke placed among the top five in two categories of the Associated Press Sports Editors’ annual writing contest for newspapers with more than 250,000 circulation.

Plaschke finished third for a story he did after U.S. wrestler Henry Cejudo won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics and fifth for his columns. Plaschke has been judged among the top 10 in columns nine of the last 10 years and is a four-time winner in the category.

The Times won six writing awards, tying the New York Times for most among newspapers in the largest circulation group. Sam Farmer was fifth for breaking news on Brett Favre’s reconsideration of retirement. Kevin Baxter received honorable mention for a feature and a project and Chuck Culpepper received honorable mention for a game story.

Long Beach State’s Alan Knipe is the new coach of the Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. men’s volleyball team. Knipe, 40, will take a leave of absence from the school to coach the national team through the 2012 Olympics. He replaces Hugh McCutcheon.

California’s Dana Vollmer has won the Honda Award as the nation’s top swimmer. Vollmer helped her team win the Pacific 10 Conference and NCAA titles.

PASSINGS

Davis, former football coach

Former Mississippi State football coach Paul Davis, who led the Bulldogs from 1962-66, died Tuesday at a hospice in Auburn, Ala. He was 87.