CHAPEL HILL - Police are looking into what role alcohol may have played in an alleged sexual assault against three UNC-Chapel Hill football players, one of whom is not yet 21.

"We do know that alcohol was involved," said Chapel Hill Police Lt. Kevin Gunter. "We don't know to what extent."

Police are not yet investigating potential alcohol violations at the Franklin Street bar where the players met the man and two women who allegedly conspired to assault and rob them, Gunter said. A revelation of underage drinking might prompt a separate investigation, he said.

"I couldn't even speculate on that right now," he said. "That's obviously something we'll have to consider."

Gunter said he did not know the name of the bar.

Tnika Monta Washington, 29, of Durham, Monique Jenice Taylor, 28, of Greenville and Michael Troy Lewis, 32, of Durham, are scheduled to appear in court Jan. 3.

Of the three, only Lewis has a significant criminal record. In the late 1990s, Lewis was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for armed bank robbery, according to court records.

Football team spokesman Kevin Best said the players' status has not changed.

Police released a recording of a 911 call in which one of the players reported they were being robbed. The caller spoke in a whisper, and the dispatcher struggled to understand. A reporter listening to the recording could not hear any mention of a sexual assault.

As of Friday night, Taylor was no longer being held at the Orange County jail. Washington remained there in lieu of $50,000 bail, reduced from $500,000 on Thursday.

Lewis, accused of holding a knife to one of the player's throats, remained jailed in lieu of the original $500,000 bail.

None of the players suffered physical injuries. The men said they had been fondled against their will, and police found two of them wearing boxer shorts and bound with tape, according to a police report.

The News & Observer typically does not identify complainants in sexual assault cases.

(Staff writers Leah Friedman and Anne Blythe contributed to this story.)